Unfortunately, state and local governments failed to use the money to make the additional improvements and instead, used the federal funding to simply pay for existing law enforcement. Part of the problem is that the legislation has no discretionary requirements attached to the funding. In other words, it is only suggested that the funds be used for the stated purposes.
Regardless of these previous failures, and despite the fact that national crime rates are at their lowest in nearly 15 years in 2009, the Democratically-controlled Congress wants to revive the program.
As a Senator in 2007, Vice President Joe Biden introduced the COPS Improvements Act, or COPS 2.0, as it has euphemistically come to be known.
About the only difference between the second version and the first version is that COPS 2.0 eliminates most of the performance standards that showcased the failures of the first program. Worse, without performance standards, there is no way to hold Congress accountable for the program's ongoing failure.
About the only purpose this legislation serves is to give liberal Congressional members cover when their constituents -- or political opponents -- accuse them of being soft on crime.
Index to the 2009 Liberal Agenda:
- DC Voting Rights Act
- Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act
- Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act
- Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Improvements Act
- Employee Free Choice Act