U.S. Senator Robert Menendez today joined Trenton elected and public safety officials to applaud $3 million in federal COPS funding to hire 12 police officers. Frank Schultz, a senior outreach coordinator for the Senator, read the following statement from Menendez at a press conference held at Trenton Police Department:
"I believe we all have an obligation -- at the local, state and federal level -- to keep our communities and families safe. As your Senator it is my top priority, and I know that it is Mayor Mack and Director Rivera's top priority as well. Yet, ravaged by budget cuts, too many of our police departments were weakened over the past couple of years, and few cities were forced to make the kind of layoffs that were made in Trenton in 2011.
"It has been tough. That's why I fought so hard to make sure we could put some of those police officers back on the job, patrolling the streets, keeping Trenton safe.
"And that's why I am so incredibly pleased to help announce that Trenton will be receiving $3 million in federal COPS funding -- the third highest award in the nation -- to bring a dozen officers back onto the police force.
"It wasn't easy getting to this day. While the COPS program has been incredibly important to your community policing efforts, Republicans in the House didn't share our priorities and tried to kill this program completely. But we didn't give up on our police forces or communities struggling with crime. We fought back. And in the end, $166 million in competitive grants to bolster community policing efforts had been restored.
"This is a proud day for our men and women in uniform and a wonderful day for the residents of this great city.
"I won't stop fighting alongside our mayors and our police departments to make sure you have the tool you need to keep all of our communities safe."
Last fall, in the wake of Trenton's mass layoff of police officers, Senator Menendez led a letter with Senator Lautenberg and Congressman Holt to Attorney General Holder asking for reconsideration of the City's application for COPS funding, citing police staffing levels not seen since 1932.
House Republicans tried to eliminate all funding for the this program during consideration of the FY 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill. The New Jersey Senators were successful in overcoming these efforts and the bill provided the funding that is the source of today's announcement. In addition, the Senators were successful in increasing funding for this program in the FY 2013 version of the bill, which passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee in April.
The COPS grant program provides federal resources so that law enforcement agencies can hire officers, acquire new technologies and equipment, and promote innovative approaches to solving crime. Across the country, the program has put more than 120,000 police officers on the beat since 1995. New Jersey has received more than $400 million since the program's inception, which has funded more than 5,000 officers.