House conveniences for business at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. The house is expected to take up Energy Legislation that week. Live coverage of the house of representatives is on cspan. On cspan2, the senate comes back monday at 3 00 p. M. Later that day the Senate Begins debate on the nomination of gail smith to be administrator of the u. S. Agency for international development. Coming up next, a subcommittee looks at policing and the role of the Civil Rights Division. They heard members from that division. This is about three hours. This hearing will come to order. Welcome to everyone here. Welcome to the witnesses in the first panel and welcome to those who have come to participate in this hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to look at the challenges facing the brave men and women of Law Enforcement. A great many of us have been growing more and more concerned at seeing Police Officers the subject of public vilification. Seeing Police Officers being undermined and hearing from Police Officers across this country that they are less and less able to do their jobs, that they feel their hands are tied, that they are scared if they engage in proactive policing in the community to keep the community safe, that they risk being personally hung out to dry. That they risk seeing their careers, their livelihoods destroyed. That they risk seeing their family held up for public condemnation. And sadly, the consequences of this are significant. The men and women of Law Enforcement risk their life each and every day, Police Officers go in to dangerous neighborhoods with criminals, and every day they are taking a risk that their life may be lost protecting the community. If the police are intimidated, if theyre scared, if theyre not willing to do their jobs, we know the result. The result is the loss of life. The result is rising crime. You know, some recent headlines underscore the consequences of this. Just three days ago the Washington Post reported that homicides have risen in several u. S. Cities this year. This quote, dramatic surge in killings has been confirmed as well by Media Outlets as diverse as usa today, National Review, the economist, the New York Times and the wall street journal. According to the Washington Post there have been 143 homicides so far this year. That is 53 more homicides than at the same point last year. Nearby, baltimore has suffered even worse. Baltimore has now suffered over 300 homicides this year. This gruesome milestone, the Washington Post lamented, resembles the violence baltimore experienced decades ago. Similar homicide statistics can be found in milwaukee and st. Louis and new orleans, in chicago, in cities across the country. And of great deal of concern to Law Enforcement, the number of Law Enforcement officers killed through acts of violence has been on a precipitous upswing according to the hill in an article published this past may. Specifically the officers killed in 2014 was nearly double those killed in 2013. James comey, the current director of the federal burea of investigation, has been vocal about his concerns over crime trends. Director comey has expressed the views that excessive, unjust scrutiny of state and local Law Enforcement may be contributing to this trend. Now, everyone here agrees that we should enforce the law, and we should vigorously enforce americas civil rights laws. In any Government Organization there can be bad actors. In any large group of people there can be individuals who choose to violate the law. And anyone who chooses to violate the law should be held accountable. But in my view it is deeply harmful not only for the men and women of Law Enforcement, but for the safety of the American People, for the federal government to treat Police Officers as the enemy, for the president or the attorney general to be holding up Police Officers for vilification. I will say i was particularly disappointed last year when president obama nominated an individual to serve as the head of the Civil Rights Division who had previously represented an admitted cop killer. And had not just represented him, but had represented him pro bono for free and had lionized and celebrated this cop killer. Now, every individual in a criminal proceeding is entitled to representation, but those that you go out of the way to volunteer your time for for free, and those who you lionize and celebrate, reveal a great deal about your beliefs and where you stand. I would note i was proud to stand with others, including pennsylvania senator pat toomey, in helping lead the fight against confirming that nominee to the Justice Department. And it is worth noting that even with a democratic senate, even under the leadership of then majority leader harry reid, the senate refused to confirm that nominee, as a number of democrats joined the republicans in saying we should not have a senior official in the Justice Department be an individual who has chosen to celebrate and lionize a murderer who has murdered Police Officers. It was a few months ago that i attended the funeral in my hometown of houston for deputy goforth. Deputy goforth was shot at a gas station in an act of violence that i believe was a manifestation of the growing antipathy directed at Law Enforcement. And i will note that Funeral Service was an incredible and powerful Funeral Service. It was held at Second Baptist Church in houston. Dr. Ed young provided the eulogy. It was an incredible sight to sit in the sanctuary and to see thousands upon thousands of Police Officers filling that sanctuary. Everywhere you could see were men and women dressed in blue. In their dress uniforms there to honor that fallen officer. Dr. Young in the eulogy powerfully observed that in the Old Testament the levis, the priests, wore blue. And he drew from the lords prayer to describe the core mission of police and indeed in particular one phrase in the lords prayer deliver us from evil. Which dr. Young rightly observed if you were to sum up the Mission Statement of a Police Officer it would be difficult to do so more effectively or more succinctly than deliver us from evil. I believe every one of us, republican and democrat, should stand unequivocally with the brave men and women of Law Enforcement. I do not believe it is beneficial for this country to have a culture where the men and women of Law Enforcement feel under siege. I will note there was a seminal moment in this country when the members of the nypd stood and turned their back on mayor de blasio. That was a moment i believe penetrated to the heart of millions of americans what on earth are we doing when senior government officials are treating the Police Officers as the bad guys. This hearing is to discuss the challenges facing Police Officers, the degree to which they have been vilified publicly, and the consequences we are facing in terms of innocent men and women facing crime, facing murder, lives that have been lost because the police have been unable to do their job. And i appreciate everyone for being here for this hearing. Recognize senator coons. Thank you, chairman cruz, and thank you for the opportunity today to discuss the core issue of how it is that we can simultaneously honor and respect the Constitutional Rights, the Civil Liberties, the civil rights, that are at the very foundation of our constitutional order, while still securing peace and safety. How it is that the Law Enforcement officers with whom i had the honor of serving in county government for a decade can meet their call to not just, as has been put, deliver us from evil, but to actually protect and serve. While i do think we have an important topic before us today, the title of the hearing a, quote, war on police, unquote, reflects unfortunately i think more overheated rhetoric all too common in congress when discussing complex policy matters rather than any ontheground reality and it is belied by the fact that there are no Law Enforcement leaders testifying today despite there being more than 17,000 Law Enforcement agencies in the United States in support of the proposition that there exists a war on police being waged by the federal government. In fact, we will hear from two chiefs of police to the opposite. My hope is that todays hearing can be an opportunity to have a constructive, broader discussion about Public Safety in our nation and the critical need for meaningful support from the federal government for state and local Law Enforcement and for the vigorous and appropriate enforcement of civil rights. When i first arrived in the senate in november of 2011, i looked through the very long list of caucuses already in existence and discovered none of them was dedicated to the issues of Law Enforcement. So, i was pleased to join with republican senator blount of missouri and establish the Law Enforcement caucus which continues on a bipartisan basis to meaningfully educate members and staff on the real issues facing state and local Law Enforcement and their role with the fedal government and to advocate for the brave men and women of Law Enforcement. It includes a strongly Bipartisan Group of 26 senators and 14 democrats and 12 republicans and will invite the chair should he be so inclined to join us at some point. Together weve worked to ensure state and local Law Enforcement has a voice in congress as we honor our commitment to Public Safety like supporting programs like the Cops Hiring Program and the burn justice assistance grant. One of the first events discussed the bulletproof vest partnership. A program which has literally saved the lives over 3,000 Law Enforcement officers including two in the Newcastle County courthouse in my hometown of wilmington. I was honored to reauthorize this program. And weve held events that focus on the resources shared between federal, state and local Law Enforcement such as regional Information Sharing Services funded by the department of justice that provides critical equipment and Specialized Services that local Law Enforcement needs but most often cant afford. I think these are the sorts of meaningful actions to really support Law Enforcement that we could and should be discussing today. At this time id like to enter into the record 11 letters all bipartisan which have represented the strong and continued interest by many senators, myself included, in supporting federal programs critical to the success of state and local Law Enforcement. More recently four weeks ago we welcomed Law Enforcement leaders from delaware and missouri to a Law Enforcement caucus event as they discussed their work improving the relationship between Law Enforcement and the communities they serve. It was a productive conversation that highlighted the successes and challenges in implementing modern Community Policing programs which brings us to our topic today, the need to protect the Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights of every american while providing the Public Safety services that are the core responsibility of government. We cannot choose between these objectives. We must work to achieve both. The role the department of justice is both to support state and local Law Enforcement and protect the Constitutional Rights of every american, which sometimes requires intervention. The statute enforced by the Civil Rights Division section 1 4141 was enacted in 1974 as part of the Violent Crime control act and was inspired over National Outrage in the beating of rodney king in los angeles. This provision ensures there can be no pattern or practice that deprives any of our constituents of the rights and privileges and immunities secured under the constitution. The idea that enforcement of this statute which literally cribs from, is drawn from, our foundation documents, represents somehow a war on police is i think contrary to our ideals as a nation. Of course, implementation of any statute including this important one requires effort and oversight. So, i welcome the testimony of miss gupta, and i look forward to exploring with her how we can Work Together to further advance the twin goals of Public Safety and civil rights. We are aided in this effort by recent reporting from the Washington Post and front line in their joint investigation of Police Departments that have undergone reforms and ill share just one of many case studies. The Justice Department launched investigation of the Prince Georges CountyPolice Department after dogs in its canine unit inflicted 800 bites. There were 47 officer involved shootings resulting in death. The reforms the Justice Department required is provisions that supervisors approve police dogs and a board be established to review officer involved shootings. Mark mcgaw a department veteran was recently quoted in this very article saying, quote, it was a painful time, theres no question about it. But both of these agreements have made us better as a Police Agency hands down. The article then notes the number of complaints to the naacp regarding Excessive Police force have been reduced dramatically from nearly 15 calls a month to just one or two. I would suggest to anyone watching at home and the chairman and members of this committee they might read a helpful report that came out of the summit organized by the Police ExecutiveResearch Forum entitled civil rights investigations of local police, Lessons Learned. The summit included Police Representatives from agencies all over this country and i ask that that full report be included in this hearing record. The report points specifically to the new Collaborative Reform Initiative from the cops office and i look forward to hearing chief davis testimony on the state of that initiative today. I will briefly share one story from that instructive report. The Las Vegas Review journal published a series of articles on officer involved shootings by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and raised questions about accountability. In response to those articles then cops director contacted sheriff Doug Gillespie and offered assistance in developing reforms in policies and procedures and training and tactics and investigation and documentation. Sheriff gillespie sent a team of his executive command leaders to washington to meet with the cops office and its leaders and to discuss the proposal. They reached an agreement and ten months later in november of 2012 the cops Office Released a full report detailing its findings and i think all engaged have concluded this was a constructiv