“Community policing,” the President said,

“embodies the concept of working together –

to get more police out of the station houses,

out from behind the desks, onto the streets,

working with people.”

By reaching 75,000 officers in only four

years, the COPS program is ahead of

schedule and under budget. The program is

on track to fulfill its mandate of funding

100,000 community policing officers by the

end of fiscal year 2000. 

Since the program was enacted in 1994,

crime has dropped sharply in the United

States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation

recently reported that overall crime in 1997

was down for the sixth consecutive year. 

SUMMER - 1998, NO. 11

E

ighteen cities with neighborhoods

experiencing high crime rates and

sagging economies are receiving

assistance to fight crime through the new

COPS Distressed Neighborhoods Pilot Project.

Some 738 community policing officers will be

deployed through grants totaling nearly $106

million under the program. The pilot cities

were selected following a stringent analysis of

crime statistics as well as demographic and

economic data.

According to COPS Deputy Director John Hart,

this experimental program is targeting

communities that need extra assistance in

battling crime and face budgetary hurdles in

contributing the local cash match to hire new

Community Oriented Policing Services

On the Beat

COPS Passes 75,000 Officer Milestone

Continued on page 2

A

t a recent White House Ceremony,

President Clinton announced that more

than 75,000 community policing officers

have been funded under the COPS program.

Vice President Gore, Attorney General Reno,

COPS Director Joe Brann, and community

policing advocates from across the nation

joined the President to mark the milestone. 

The Rose Garden grant announcement – $115

million in grants to fund 1,748 officers in

over 550 communities – put the anti-crime

initiative over three-quarters of the way

toward meeting the President’s goal of

100,000 additional officers. 

In his remarks, the President stressed the

importance of the program in the nation’s

crime rate dropping to a 25 year low.

Distressed Neighborhoods

Pilot Initiative Launched 

in 18 Cities Nationwide

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Camden, N.J. Police

www.usdoj.gov/cops/
2 On the Beat

Director’s Column

L

ike thousands of others across the nation, your law enforcement agency has

formed a strong partnership with us at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office

of Community Oriented Policing Services. Our partnership is advancing community policing, putting more officers on the

streets, adding new tools to your crime-fighting

arsenal, and most importantly, helping slash crime

rates while improving the qualify of life in America's

neighborhoods.

We are at a critical stage in our partnership.

Federal funding for additional officers under our

main hiring programs (Universal Hiring Program,

COPS AHEAD, FAST, MORE '95, MORE ‘96, and

MORE '98) concludes after three years. However,

your commitment to retain these officers – as

well as our commitment to implement the retention component of our agreement – continues. 

Most law enforcement agencies planned for the retention of COPS-funded

positions from the start. Some are securing these positions through long range

budget planning in concert with local fiscal authorities and policymakers, sound

fiscal management, and innovative revenue-generating measures.

PLANNING FOR COMMUNITY POLICING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Joseph E. Brann

Continued from page 1

officers. In this new effort, COPS picks up the full tab for entry-level salaries and benefits for

three years. The usual 25 percent local match requirement is waived. All other grant

requirements, including the retention of positions when federal funding ends, will apply. Each

jurisdiction will put their COPS grants to work in different ways. For example:

• In Camden, N.J., where 34.1 percent of its families live below the federal poverty level,

the $891,000 grant will be used to add five officers to the city’s “Renaissance Teams”

that address crime and quality of life issues throughout troubled neighborhoods;

• Chicago, Ill. will increase the effectiveness of its Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy

(CAPS) with $23 million in new grants. Some 150 new officers will focus on

neighborhoods with high drug trafficking; and

• What Police Chief Marvin Minor has called “open air drug markets” in Greenville, Miss.

will be targeted by six officers funded by a $494,920 grant.

Other cities receiving Distressed Neighborhood Initiative grants include:

Distressed Neighborhoods Pilot Initiative Launched in 18 Cities Nationwide

Some have not been as successful in their planning efforts. That's why COPS is

committed to assisting your agency to remain in compliance. This month we are

stepping up our efforts with a new "Retention Tool Kit" to assist you in retaining

COPS-funded officers.

As a former police chief, I learned the value of seeking the advice of my peers on

how to tackle tough problems. That is why we are turning to chiefs, sheriffs, mayors,

and city managers to share their successful approaches to retaining officers hired

under COPS grants. Their examples and recommendations will be included in our

tool kit.

This concise, easy-to-understand document is designed to be helpful in your efforts

to plan and implement your strategy for retaining COPS-funded officers. It will be

available from the COPS office (800-421-6770) later this summer, and at our web

site: www.usdoj.gov/cops. 

The COPS program is designed to be a true collaborative effort between our office

and your agency. We are pleased with its success. I hope this new effort to help your

community fulfill its obligation and assume the full cost of salaries and benefits of

your COPS officers will be helpful in the months and years ahead. 

El Paso, Tex. (12 officers, $1.4 million)

Flint, Mich. (12 officers, $877,122)

Fort Pierce, Fla. (3 officers, $318,000)

Fresno, Calif. (75 officers, $13.7 million)

Hartford, Conn. (12 officers, $1.5 million)

McAllen, Tex. (20 officers, $2.2 million)

Miami, Fla. (168 officers, $24.2 million)

Muskegon, Mich. (5 officers, $393,435)

San Bernardino, Calif. (8 officers, $1.6 million). 

Baltimore, Md. (100 officers, $10.8 million)

Bessemer, Ala. (12 officers, $1.2 million)

Birmingham, Ala. (25 officers, $2.8 million)

Buffalo, N.Y. (20 officers, $2.8 million)

Cleveland, Ohio (100 officers, $15 million)
July/August 3

COPS Helps Schools Tackle Crime 

When students go back to class next month, COPS-funded police

officers will be joining them in schools across the nation.

Recent tragedies in Richmond, Va., Jonesboro, Ark., and Pearl, Miss. have

brought school violence to the forefront of the national agenda. As

President Clinton recently noted in honoring COPS-funded Officer Ron

Brown, who was involved in the Richmond incident, “community police are

making children safe in our neighborhoods and in our schools.”

In the fall, COPS will announce the recipients of $12 million in grants for

its School-Based Partnership Program. This innovative program will

provide grants to law enforcement agencies and partnering community

groups (including schools) to address persistent crime problems in and

around primary and secondary schools. 

This month, COPS kicks off a new effort to urge communities and

educators to join together in applying for school resource officer grants

under the COPS Universal Hiring Program (UHP). 

"Dozens of jurisdictions across the nation already have hired police

through COPS grants programs but many still don't realize that the

resources we have can be used for schools as well," says COPS Deputy

Director Ben Tucker. “We are urging policing agencies and the education

community to form more collaborative partnerships and apply for UHP

grants that will increase the number of sworn personnel in our schools.”

Denver (Colo.) Public Schools recently hired 12 uniformed officers to be

stationed full-time in the city's high schools with the help of a COPS

grant. According to the Rocky Mountain News, they will patrol halls,

speak to classes, and work to prevent crime in and around schools. They

also hope to recruit future police professionals and act as role models

while befriending and counseling youngsters.

"I think parents and kids absolutely must feel safe in school in order to

learn," says Elaine Berman of the Denver School Board. "I don't think

principals and teachers should be spending time on safety issues."

"School resource officers are the best example of community policing

you can find because we're responsible for a community," says Curtis

Lavarello, president of the 5,000-member National Association of School

Resource Officers. Adds Ronald Stephens, director of the National School

Safety Center in Malibu, Calif. "As school violence transitioned from fist

fights to gunfights and fire drills to crisis drills, there's a need to have

a higher level of professionalism on campus."

"You can't just take a janitor and give him a gun," he notes. "They need

to be trained to deal with young people and have an understanding of the

law." 

Senior Police Officer Richard DeJoode and drug dog Oby

discuss drugs and search procedures with students at Garton

Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa.
4 On the Beat

Staff Profile — Response to COPS MORE '98 Grants "Overwhelming"

W

ith more than 3,000 applications requesting more than $767 million,

COPS MORE ’98 (Making Officer Redeployment Effective) is

shattering all records as the most popular program announcement

ever made by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Christina Galano and Nancy Leach, who head the COPS MORE team reviewing

the applications, say they’re “overwhelmed” by

the record number of quality applications they’ve

received. With requests far exceeding the $243

million budget for the program, they say the

screening and reviewing process is more

competitive than ever.

Says Galano: “It confirms what we are hearing

from the field: that law enforcement agencies

across the nation want to deploy more officers to

our streets to fight crime and employ technology

that will help them do their jobs more

effectively.”

According to Galano, a three-year COPS veteran

with a Masters in Public Administration from American University, 1,800

applications for $380 million were received for the previous program, COPS

MORE ’96. That number represents a 60 percent increase in applications,

with dollar requests jumping by 50 percent. (Statutory restrictions allow no

more than 20 percent of the COPS budget to be dedicated to the COPS MORE

program each fiscal year.)

“Because of the intense competition, we’ve had to take a fine-tooth comb to

each application,” says Leach, who holds a M.S. in Justice from American

University. “For COPS MORE and indeed every program COPS has, it’s

critical that applicants fill out information completely – to really take the time

$5.1 Million Methamphetamine Initiative

Targets Five Cities

U

se of methamphetamines – commonly called “meth,” “crank,” or

“speed” – is rising sharply across the United States. Developed in

clandestine laboratories often located in remote areas, meth (known

on the street as “the poor man’s cocaine”) is cheap and addictive.

And as law enforcement officials know all too well, it isn’t just the drug

that is dangerous. Meth labs themselves pose both acute and chronic

health risks to law enforcement officers that seize meth-producing

facilities as well as to those that live nearby.

For Fiscal Year 1998, Congress appropriated $34 million to fight the

escalating meth problem. With those funds, COPS is facilitating the funding

of a variety of enforcement programs to areas with the greatest need of

assistance in eradicating meth production and distribution.

President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno recently announced a

new $5.1 million grant program administered by Office of Community

COPS COUNT

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

1995 1996 1998 2000

Where We Are Today - 76,736

1994

to check every box correctly and fill out every question fully.”

COPS MORE grants are used to purchase equipment and state-of-the-art

technology. Proposals received include funding for mobile data computers,

mapping software, and computer-aided dispatch systems. In addition, COPS

MORE grants may be used to hire non-sworn staff – including police or

community service officers, civilian booking clerks, dispatchers, jailers, and

other support personnel – to fulfill tasks that sworn

personnel currently perform, allowing those officers

to be out in the community fighting crime. 

The grants cover up to 75 percent of the total cost

of technology, equipment, or civilian salaries for one

year. Grant recipients contribute a 25 percent cash

match. State, local, and other public law

enforcement agencies are eligible for the grants.

The first round of grant award recipients will be

announced in September.

Jeff Bruzdzinski

The COPS MORE team (from left, Nancy Leach, Darren Neely, 

and Christina Galano) received more than three times as 

many grant applications than COPS can fund. The first grant

awards will be announced in September.

Continued on page 5
July/August 5

QWhat penalties does the COPS Office impose if a grantee violates its

COPS grant requirements?

A If the COPS Office determines that a grantee has violated

a grant requirement after a thorough review, we try to

develop a voluntary compliance remedy in cooperation with

the grantee. 

For example, one COPS grantee which violated the

nonsupplanting requirement agreed to return in excess of

$300,000 in grant funds to the COPS Office. Another

grantee which violated the same requirement, however,

chose to remedy the violation by hiring additional officers

with local funds to return its sworn force to the required

level. 

In some cases the COPS Office is required to suspend or

terminate grant funding if a grantee fails to a voluntarily

cooperate with developing a remedy. Grantees are

encouraged to take timely and positive steps to rectify

grant violations in cooperation with the COPS Office to

prevent the suspension or termination of their grant funds

A Site visits by COPS grant monitors, newspaper articles,

written complaints, and federal, state, or local audits all are

ways that COPS discovers grant requirement violations. The

COPS Office thoroughly evaluates all allegations

independently before reaching the conclusion that a

grantee has violated its COPS grant requirements.

QHow does the COPS Office find out that a grantee may be violating its

COPS grant requirements?

By Charlotte Grzebien, Associate General Counsel, COPS Legal Division

Questions and Answers — Violating COPS Grants Agreements

C

OPS Office Director Joe Brann and other COPS senior

officials will join thousands of communities nationwide in

what is expected to be the largest-ever celebration of

“National Night Out” on August 4, 1998.

Sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, the

event is designed to send a message to criminals that

neighborhoods and police are fighting crime together.

Activities include front porch vigils, flashlight walks, block

parties, and meetings with local law enforcement officials. 

More than 30 million residents from 9,250 communities

will participate in this year’s event. Once again, COPS

staffers will join their neighbors at sites across the

country. Sites on the west coast, New England, and Texas

are among those that COPS staff will attend.

National Night Out

Oriented Policing Services to combat the spread of meth in six cities

(Phoenix, Ariz.; Salt Lake City, Ut.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Dallas, Tex.;

Little Rock, Ark.; and Minneapolis, Minn.).

“Meth manufacturing and usage present unique law enforcement

challenges to communities of all sizes,” says COPS Office Director Joe

Brann. “These grants will provide an opportunity for local law

enforcement agencies to work closely with state and federal public

safety agencies to develop comprehensive responses to the spread of

methamphetamines. It is our hope that the strategies these communities

develop will serve as models for the many others who are seeking

solutions to this serious drug problem.”

This initiative will provide innovative community policing grants to a

limited number of law enforcement agencies in jurisdictions with large

numbers of meth lab seizures, frequently reported deaths attributed to

meth abuse, high percentages of arrestees testing positive for meth, and

other factors. COPS Methamphetamine Initiative funds will be used to

support a variety of enforcement, intervention, and prevention efforts. 

Continued from page 4
What Works — A compendium of community policing ideas from across the nation

6 On the Beat

P

ostal carriers are getting the line on criminals

– the phone line, that is. According to The

Star-Ledger, the Maplewood, N.J. Police Department is using a grant to arm 30 local mail

carriers with cell phones that dial 911– and only

that number. Dubbed “Postal Phone-Eye Network,”

the program will give the postal workers the ability

to instantly call law enforcement officials when

they see a crime. “There have been times when I

wanted to call the cops but people aren’t home and

by the time you find a phone, the suspicious

person is gone,” says mail carrier Wayne

Boutillier. His supervisor, Postmaster Jeff Gannon,

notes that “carriers are at every house every day.

They know the people, they know the cars.” 

The program complements the Maplewood Police

Department’s “Eyes on the Neighborhood” program

it launched with the township’s refuse collector,

Mountain Disposal Co. In this effort, sanitation

workers use two-way radios to alert headquarters

or a company dispatcher about everything from

suspicious cars to broken windows to doors that

are ajar.

Contact: Director Gizzo, Maplewood Police

Department, 973-762-3400.

B

ehind its magnificent oak-lined avenues and

small town charm, Aiken, S.C. is grappling

with serious problems including the most reported cases of child abuse and neglect in the

state. To halt the number of what Public Solicitor

Barbara Morgan calls “toxic childhoods,” law

enforcement officials are teaming up with social

services to launch a series of community policing

initiatives. “COPS and Moms” involves police

officers to identify pregnant women in the

community and encourage them to seek prenatal

care by providing information on local services.

Local officials say the direct result of the intense

collaborative effort between the hospital, police

force, and public and private organizations is

resulting in a 40 percent drop in the infant

mortality rate. Based on this program, Aiken

Police also have begun the IMPACT program for

youth. Police officials are visiting students at

home each week to check on homework and deal

with other issues. Students also join police at a

homework help center twice a week and

participate in biweekly events.

Contact: Lolita Ashley, Aiken Police Department,

803-642-7686.

W

hat would summer be without a corner

lemonade stand? In Naples, Fla., it’s the

Sheriff’s Office and the Golden Gate Civic

Association – not kids – that are running the

stand. With the motto of “When your

neighborhood has some lemons, make

lemonade,” the corner stands provide police and

neighborhood activists the chance to keep an eye

out for crime and listen to neighbors. The

lemonade stand sends a direct visual message to

criminals that there is an active anti-crime

program in the neighborhood and provides the

police with a chance to hear community

concerns.

Contact: Lt. Doug Caperton, Community

Oriented Policing Services Coordinator, Collier

County Sheriff’s Office, 

941-793-9200.

I

n Rome, N.Y., the “COPS and JOCKS” program

is uniting police with the town’s youth. Police

are participating in a variety of sports

activities, volunteering as coaches and officials

to build bonds with children of all ages. The

program, say the police, helps steer at-risk

children in the right direction. Activities typically

take place at the local Salvation Army gym. The

next step is a tutoring program at the Salvation

Army’s Community Learning Center.

Contact: Sgt. Stevens, Rome Police Department,

315-339-7780.

P

revention is the best medicine in St. Joseph,

Mo. The city’s police department has begun

leaving reminder cards for businesses and residents when they see something that could be

done to prevent crime. Notes are left on a

residence or business door. Pat Dillion, owner of

Dillion Co., received a card suggesting he leave

a light over his cash register at night. “It made

us feel better to know they (police officers)

stopped by.”

Contact: Mike Hirter, St. Joseph Police

Department, 816-271-4881.

C

ampus police at the Southern University

New Orleans are extending reach beyond

campus. Chief Bruce Smith and justice student Miranda McGee teamed up to win a

COPS grant for a program to cut crime around

the school. Included in the department’s recent

activities have been an auto-theft prevention

seminar, a disaster readiness program, a Day

Out Against Crime, and adoption of local families

to receive food, clothing, and toys on holidays.

They’ve also sponsored athletic events between

the Levee Board Police and SUNO police to bring

the two law enforcement groups closer together

with the community to fight crime.

Contact: SUNO Chief Bruce Smith at 

504-286-5290. 
July/August 7

COPS Grant a Big Deal in a Little Town

C

rime doesn’t just occur in big cities. And COPS grants don’t just go to large

metropolitan police forces. Just ask town officials in rural Cameron, N.C.,

population 238, which now has the first police officer in its 123-year history

thanks to a COPS grant.

The “Dewberry Capital of the World,” and home to dozens of antique stores that

specialize in rocking chairs and Depression glass, recently received a $65,088

COPS grant to have a full-time officer.

“It was a great thing for COPS to consider such a small town,” says Chief Carroll

Arden Adams, who is housed in the one-room town hall, a tiny, colonial-style brick

building. “This is a great step for the town of Cameron, one that was long

overdue.”

Located off U.S. Route One about 60 miles south of Raleigh, Cameron was once

a busy community. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, five trains stopped daily,

bringing in goods for the community and taking lumber and pitch harvested from

the area’s pine forests. When the forests were depleted, the townspeople planted

hundreds of acres of dewberry, a seedy cousin of the blackberry. Eventually the

trains stopped coming and the town lost most of its population.

The resurgence in antique shops has put Cameron back on the map and, along

with the expansion of local highways, also is resulting in an uptick in the crime

rate. Aside from a rise in traffic violations, drug-related crime also is on the

increase, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. This led town fathers to

apply for the COPS grant. Mayor Isabel Thomas says she’s pleased the town has

its first police officer. “We don’t know what kind of patrol schedule he’s going to

work,” the mayor jokes. “But our town hall is only open on Mondays,

Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I guess on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can do

whatever you want!”

Two New Veteran Law Officials Join COPS

G

il Kerlikowske, a national leader in the field of community policing, has been

named Deputy Director for Support Services for the COPS Office. Kerlikowske

began his law enforcement career with the St. Petersburg, Fla. Police

Department in 1972, serving in the Department’s Internal Affairs, Vice and Narcotics,

and Field Training divisions before becoming Commanding Officer of the Criminal

Investigation Division. In 1987, Kerlikowske was named Chief of Police of the Port St.

Lucie (Fla.) Police Department and served there until 1994 when he was named

Police Commissioner in Buffalo, N.Y. 

In 1996, he was elected President of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a

nationally recognized policing organization that serves as a clearinghouse on

community policing issues. At the COPS Office, Mr. Kerlikowske will have

responsibility for directing the activities of the COPS Monitoring Division; the

Program, Policy, Support and Evaluation Division; and the U.S. Department of Justice

Response Center.

Cameron, N.C. is one of hundreds of communities with populations

under 50,000 for which COPS has designed its Small Community

Grant Program.

Later this month, COPS will announce approximately $15 million in

grants to help small communities retain the officers they’ve hired

under the COPS Phase 1, FAST, or UHP programs.

“While small towns may have increased the size of their force by one

or two new police officers thanks to COPS grants, this increase may

translate into a 25 to 50 percent increase in the overall police force

in some communities,” explains grant advisor Tim Harding. “Due to

the limited tax base in most of these communities, we’ve designed a

program to help communities continue to afford to keep community

policing at work in their towns.”

COPS devised the Small Communities Grant Program to help towns

and villages retain their officers and continue the benefits of

community policing. Grant awards are expected to be announced in

late August.

Dave Walchak joins COPS as Senior Police Advisor to the Director. He

previously served as Chief of Police in Concord, N.H., Director of the

Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Law Enforcement Director for the Maine

Municipal Association, and Assistant Police Training Supervisor for the

State of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. He began his

career as a patrol officer in the La Crosse, Wisc. Police Department.

Walchak serves as an advisor on policy development, intergovernmental

activities, and represents COPS at conferences and other events.

R.V. Hight
OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICES (COPS)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

1100 VERMONT AVENUE

WASHINGTON, DC 20530

August 4 National Night Out — Annual crime event with police &

community groups nationwide. 

Contact: 800-NITEOUT.

August 6 — 8 Community Mobilization & Community Based 

Response to Problem Issues — Discussion & training

conference. Sponsor: Oklahoma RCPI. Site: Oklahoma City, OK.

Contact: Debra Hoffmaster 202-616-9581.

August 7 Team Building for Community Policing Partnerships —

Discussion & learning conference. Sponsor: Georgia RCPI. Site:

Peachtree, GA. Contact: KSU Continuing Education 

770-423-6765.

August 11 — 14 Beyond the Rhetoric: Facing the Challenges of Community

Policing — COPS & City of Chicago national conference

gathering 600 leading community policing strategists to learn

new ideas to move community policing into the next century.

Sponsor: Chicago Police Department. Site: Chicago, IL. Contact:

Chicago Police Department 312-747-6208.

August 18 — 21 HAPCOA Annual Training Conference. 

Sponsor: Hispanic American Command Officers Association.

Site: Miami Beach, FL. Contact: HAPCOA 408-277-4212.

August 25 — 27 Arizona: Where Do We Go From Here? — Community policing

conference. Sponsor: COPS Regional Community Policing

Institute. Site: Phoenix, AZ. Contact: Lynn Babcock 

602-223-2514.

September 9 — 11 National Center for Small Communities Annual Conference —

Features community policing discussion. Sponsor: NCSC,

National Association of Towns & Townships. Site: Washington,

DC Contact: NCSC 202-624-3550.

September 13 — 16 East Coast Conference on Community Policing — More than

250 law enforcement personnel expected to trade ideas &

strategies on community policing. Sponsor: Baltimore County

Police. Site: Williamsburg, VA. Contact: Baltimore County Police

410-887-2214.

September 15 — 19 Victim Offender Mediation Association Conference — 15th

annual international conference & training institute. Includes

seminars to teach offenders about victims needs & how victim

offender mediation is effective in reducing crime. Sponsor:

VOMA. Site: Tucson, AZ. Contact: VOMA 503-281-5085.

September 22 — 25 Community Policing: Focusing on Your Mission — Issue in

changing community policing strategies. Sponsor: Portland

Bureau of Police. Site: Portland, OR. Contact: Portland Bureau of

Police 503-823-0955.

September 25 Team Building for Community Policing Partnerships —

Discussion & strategies for building collaborative partnerships

for community policing. Sponsor: Georgia RCPI. Site: St. Simon's

Island, Ga. Contact: KSU 770-423-6765. 

For more information or to receive a free copy of this newsletter, write to COPS Office,

Attn: On The Beat 

1100 Vermont Avenue, Washington, DC 20530, or visit our Website at

www.usdoj.gov/cops/webpubs.htm

You can also call the US Department of Justice 

Response Center at 1-800-421-6770. 

Within the Washington area, call 202-307-1480.

COPS Calendar

ON THE BEAT

Summer • 1998 No. 11