June 13, 2007
 
Spending Plan Fights Back Against Rising Crime Rates
 
By HNN Staff from Mollohan news release
 
Washington, DC (HNN) -- A House Appropriations Subcommittee chaired by U.S. Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-WV, has approved a spending plan that would fight back against America's rising crime rate by putting more police on the streets, making more grant funds available to local law enforcement, and attacking the spread of methamphetamine use.
 
The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies fiscal year 2008 spending bill now faces consideration by the full Appropriations Committee and approval by the House.
 
"The President's budget request included many holes that had to be filled by this subcommittee action," Mollohan said. "The largest of these holes was law enforcement. The President's request for State and Local Law Enforcement was $1.4 billion below the FY 2007 level. The plan our subcommittee approved would provide $1.7 billion more than the President's request for local law enforcement."
 
Mollohan said it is important to invest in law enforcement because of a rising crime rate. According to the Uniform Crime Report of crime data from more than 11,700 state and local law enforcement agencies, violent crime -- murders, robberies, forcible rapes and aggravated assaults - increased 1.3 percent in 2006 and 2.3 percent in 2005. The numbers represent the first significant increase in violent crime in 15 years.
 
To combat this problem, Mollohan's bill would increase support for Community Oriented Policy Services (COPS) programs.
 
"This bill would provide $100 million to restart the COPS hiring program and put more than 2,800 police officers on the streets to fight crime," Mollohan said. "The COPS hiring program helped to reduce crime nationwide in the decade between 1995 and 2005. The bill provides the funding for COPS hiring for the first time since 2005."
 
Mollohan said that within rising crime statistics, crimes related to methamphetamine use underscore that drug's scourge on society. As meth use rises so too does crime.
 
"Small domestic amateur labs, in home kitchens, motel rooms, or other similar spaces, continue to produce methamphetamine within the United States in large quantities," Mollohan said. "Since March 2005, the DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET) have made methamphetamine investigations a priority. In Fiscal Year 2005, 41 percent of new MET deployments targeted methamphetamine trafficking organizations. However, the President's request for fiscal year 2008 terminates this program. We have rejected the President's proposal and have included $20,578,000 for MET teams."
 
Finally, in order to help State and Local Law Enforcement, Mollohan said the appropriation action recommends restoration of funding for programs terminated by the administration: $600 million for the Justice Assistance Grants program, $85 million for meth-specific COPS grants, $40 million for Drug Court programs, and $10 million for State Prison Drug Treatment programs. These levels are significant increases over current year funding levels.