Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program

Updated May 9, 2024

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program

Background

Under the initial authorization for the Community Oriented

Policing Services (COPS) program (Title I of the Violent

Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, P.L.

103-322, “the 1994 Crime Act”), grants could be awarded

for (1) hiring new police officers or rehiring police officers

who have been laid off to engage in community policing,

(2) hiring former members of the armed services to serve as

law enforcement officers engaged in community policing,

and (3) supporting community policing nonhiring

initiatives, such as training law enforcement officers in

crime prevention and community policing techniques or

developing technologies that support crime prevention

strategies.

The COPS program was reauthorized by the Violence

Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization

Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-162). The act changed the COPS

program from a multi-grant program to a single-grant

program under which DOJ can make grants to state, local,

and tribal governments, and other public and private entities

for a variety of enumerated purposes (see 34 U.S.C.

§10381(b)).

Congress has continued to appropriate funding for the

COPS program even though authorized appropriations for

the program expired in FY2009.

COPS Funding

From FY1995 to FY1999, the annual appropriation for the

COPS program averaged nearly $1.4 billion. The relatively

high levels of funding during this time period, compared to

post-FY2000 appropriations, were largely the result of

efforts to place 100,000 new law enforcement officers on

the streets.

After the initial push to hire and fund 100,000 new law

enforcement officers, Congress started to change the COPS

program into a conduit for supporting a wider range of local

law enforcement needs. Starting in FY1998, an increasing

portion of the annual appropriation for COPS was dedicated

to programs that helped law enforcement agencies purchase

new equipment, combat methamphetamine production,

upgrade criminal history record systems, and improve their

forensic science capabilities. Increasing funding for

nonhiring initiatives under the COPS account coincided

with decreasing funding for hiring programs. By FY2005,

appropriations for hiring programs were nearly nonexistent,

and Congress eliminated funding for them for FY2006 and

FY2007. Funding for hiring programs was revived when

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

(P.L. 111-5) provided $1 billion for the COPS program.

Appropriations for hiring programs from FY2009 to

FY2012 were the result of Congress’s efforts to help local

law enforcement agencies facing budget cuts as a result of

the recession either hire new law enforcement officers or

retain officers they would otherwise have to lay off.

Appropriations continued to be provided for hiring

programs even as the effects of that recession waned.

There was a notable reduction in the total amount of

funding provided for the COPS program after FY2012

relative to previous fiscal years. Prior to FY2012, the least

amount of annual funding (in nominal dollars) provided for

the COPS program was $472 million for FY2006. Although

COPS program funding has increased over the past several

fiscal years (Table 1), annual funding from FY2012 to

FY2021 remained significantly lower than it was before

FY2012. Lower annual appropriations for the COPS

program during these fiscal years can be attributed to three

trends: (1) a decrease in the amount of funding provided for

hiring programs, (2) a ban on congressionally directed

spending, and (3) Congress’s restructuring of the COPS

account. However, increases in annual COPS funding

starting in FY2022 are attributable to a partial reversal of

some of these trends.

Congress had a ban on congressionally directed spending

from FY2011 to FY2021. This ban substantially decreased

funding for the Law Enforcement Technology and the

Methamphetamine Clean-up programs, which were being

administered by the COPS Office. By FY2012, Congress

did not appropriate any funding for the Law Enforcement

Technology program and the only funding remaining for

the Methamphetamine Clean-up program was transferred to

the Drug Enforcement Administration to assist with the

clean-up of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories.

Congress ceased providing funding for the

Methamphetamine Clean-up program in FY2018.

From FY2010 to FY2012, Congress moved appropriations

for several programs that were funded under the COPS

account—such as Project Safe Neighborhoods, DNA

backlog reduction initiatives, Paul Coverdell grants,

offender reentry programs, the National Criminal History

Improvement program, and the Bulletproof Vest Grant

program—to the State and Local Law Enforcement

Assistance (S&LLEA) account. Programs funded under this

account are administered by the Office of Justice Programs

(OJP). Prior to the programs being moved to the S&LLEA,

appropriations for them were transferred from the COPS

Office to OJP for administration. In general, from FY2001

to FY2011, appropriations for programs that were

transferred to OJP accounted for one-third to one-half of the

annual funding for the COPS account. In recent fiscal years,

differing proportions of the COPS account has again been

transferred to OJP. Since FY2017, Congress has provided

funding for the Regional Information Sharing System

(RISS) program under the COPS account, which is

transferred to OJP.

Funding for the COPS program has increased in the last

seven fiscal years, from $208 million for FY2015 to $685

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Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program

million for FY2024. Increased funding for the COPS

account is the result of Congress increasing funding for

hiring programs, and for nonhiring initiatives such as antiheroin task forces, active shooter training, and grants under

the Matching Grant Program for School Security. Also, for

FY2024 Congress provided funding for the COPS Law

Enforcement Technology program for the third straight

fiscal year, after eliminating the program in FY2010.

Table 1. COPS’s Total Budget Authority, Funding for

Hiring Programs, and Transfers to OJP, FY2015FY2024

Amounts in millions of nominal dollars

Fiscal

Year

Total

Budget

Authority

Funding for

Hiring

Programs

Proportion

Transferred to

OJP

2015

208

135

0%

2016

212

137

0%

2017

222

137

16%

2018

276

150

13%

2019

304

153

12%

2020

343

156

11%

2021

386

157

10%

2022

532

157

8%

2023

683

225

6%

2024

685

157

6%

Source: FY2015-FY2017 appropriations were provided by the U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing

Services; FY2018-FY2024 appropriations were taken from the

explanatory statement to accompany the annual Commerce, Justice,

Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Notes: Total budget authority includes carryover from previous

fiscal years.

Debate over the COPS Program, Law

Enforcement Reform, and Violent Crime

Recently, funding for the COPS program, especially the

hiring program, has become a flashpoint in the debate over

policing reform. Some proponents of law enforcement

reform argue that law enforcement agencies police

communities of color in a biased way, and absent efforts to

address underlying social factors, more police officers

means that more people of color, especially Black men, will

be subject to biased policing. Proponents of reform argue

that funding should be used for programs that address social

problems (e.g., poverty, homelessness, lack of access to

mental health care) in order to reduce involvement with the

criminal justice system rather than increasing the number of

police officers.

President Biden has indicated his support for the COPS

program as a way to promote law enforcement reform

through community policing efforts. In his plan for criminal

justice reform, President Biden stated

policing works best when officers are out of their

cruisers and walking the streets, engaging with and

getting to know members of their communities. But

in order to do that, police departments need

resources to hire a sufficient number of officers.…

However, the [COPS] program has never been

funded to fulfill the original vision for community

policing.… As a condition of the grant, hiring of

police officers must mirror the racial diversity of the

community they serve.

Since FY2021, funding has been provided under the COPS

account for programs to promote policing reform efforts,

such as funding for de-escalation training, improving law

enforcement’s response to people with mental health

problems, helping law enforcement agencies gain

accreditation, and anti-bias and diversity training. While

there was also continued funding for the COPS hiring

program, for FY2024 the COPS Office gave additional

consideration to applicants that indicated they would use

funding to (1) recruit officers from the communities in

which they would serve, (2) recruit officers who are willing

to relocate to areas characterized by fragmented relations

between police and community residents or to areas of high

crime, and (3) require officers to complete evidence-based

cultural sensitivity training.

The COPS program has also been integral to the debate

over what steps Congress can take to aid state and local

governments in their efforts to address violent crime. While

there is debate over whether additional police officers alone

can help reduce violent crime (see CRS In Focus IF12022,

State and Local Law Enforcement Officer Staffing for a

brief discussion), some policymakers have argued for

additional funds for the COPS hiring program as one

avenue to help cities address increases in violent crime. In

its FY2025 congressional budget submission for the COPS

program, the Biden Administration requested increased

funding for the COPS hiring program to support the hiring

of 2,000 additional officers and to “increase the capacity of

law enforcement agencies to implement community

policing strategies that strengthen partnerships for safer

communities and enhance law enforcement’s capacity to

prevent, solve, and control crime – especially violent crime

– through funding for additional officer and deputy

positions.” Some proponents of policing reform efforts

argue that (1) policymakers have emphasized the need to

increase the number of law enforcement officers as a means

of tackling violent crime when they have not taken

sufficient steps to address how the police treat people of

color and (2) the focus on recent increases in violent crime

in certain U.S. cities is detracting from efforts to follow

through on law enforcement reform proposals.

Nathan James, Analyst in Crime Policy

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IF10922

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program

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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10922 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED