The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994authorized the creation of an intergovernmental grant programwithin the U.S. Department of Justice to fund the hiring andredeployment of 100,000 additional community policingofficers on America's streets. The program that administers thegrants is the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services(COPS).
Recent reports of elevated crime rates have led commentators andpublic officials to speculate about what factors are to blame.Social scientists need time to collect and adequately analyze therecent crime data to develop explanations for the rise. Socialcritics, however, are not right to claim that the BushAdministration's reduction of subsidies to local law enforcementfor their routine responsibilities, through such programs as theOffice of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), is to blame.A better explanation is that the U.S. may not be relying heavilyenough on criminal penalties, especially incarceration, todiscourage criminal activity.