Clinton Presents Police Grants, Fulfilling Goal of Anti-Crime Bill
President Clinton presented a new round of grants to hire community police officers Wednesday, checking off one of the biggest promises of his administration.
“When I signed the crime bill I pledged to help communities all over our nation fund 100,000 community police officers by the year 2000,” Clinton said. “Today we are keeping the pledge.”
Clinton presented $95 million in grants, created in the 1994 anti-crime bill, for the hiring of 1,500 officers.
“This will bring us to over 100,000 police officers funded, ahead of schedule and under budget,” he said. Only half the officers actually are patrolling the street.
Clinton used the announcement in the Rose Garden to celebrate what he said were the results of the 1994 anti-crime bill--a drop in murder rates and other violent crimes--and to call for renewal of the community policing grants.
“In making America’s thin blue line thicker and stronger, our nation will be safer,” Clinton said.
Republicans in Congress have been resisting the idea of renewing the community police grants, saying there is too little room in next year’s budget.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
