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Mia Penner
By Mia Penner June 18, 2024

Biden delivered more than double his $300 million pledge for COPS program

During his 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden pledged to invest $300 million in the Community Oriented Policing Program. A look at the last three years shows he's invested more than double that figure. 

The Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services helps local jurisdictions hire law enforcement officers and implement community policing principles. It was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. 

The program's funding for fiscal year 2021, which was determined before Biden took office, was $386 million. Biden signed spending bills that increased funding to $511 million in fiscal year 2022 and about $662.9 million in both fiscal years 2023 and 2024, according to numbers reflected in the following years' reports. 

Collectively, that's a three-year increase of about $678.8 million, or more than twice the $300 million Biden had promised.

In his fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, Biden requested $534 million for the program, reflecting a funding decrease that stems from the termination of what the administration described as one-time projects involving technology and equipment that had been funded in fiscal year 2023. 

Even with that cut, Biden's proposal would bring his four-year investment to $826.8 million.

Biden far exceeded the amount he promised to invest in COPS. We rate this a Promise Kept. 

RELATED: Biden Promise Tracker 

Our Sources

Louis Jacobson
By Louis Jacobson December 15, 2022

Biden gets $125 million increase for COPS program

President Joe Biden has succeeded in boosting the budget of the Community Oriented Policing Program, which helps local jurisdictions address the potential for crime. 

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, received $386 million in funding in fiscal year 2021.

Biden sought $651 million for the program in his fiscal year 2022 budget request, which would have been a 69% increase of $265 million.

In Congress' final version of the bill, which Biden signed, the program received a smaller increase than Biden sought. The program ended up with $511 million for fiscal year 2022, a $125 million, or 32%, increase from fiscal year 2021.

In Biden's fiscal year 2023 budget request, he again sought $651 million for the program. Lawmakers are working out the details of a spending bill, so it remains to be seen whether lawmakers will completely fund what Biden asked for.

Biden hasn't yet reached the $300 million increase he had pledged on the campaign trail, but the program's funding has risen by a notable amount, and Congress has two years left to further boost it. This promise remains In the Works.

Louis Jacobson
By Louis Jacobson June 9, 2021

Biden budget proposes $265 million more for community oriented policing

President Joe Biden has taken the first step to increase the budget of the Community Oriented Policing Program, which helps localities implement community-based policing practices that seek to address the potential for crime.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was created by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. For fiscal year 2021, it was allocated $386 million.

In his fiscal year 2022 budget request, released in May, Biden asked for $651 million, an increase of $265 million.

The budget proposal seeks an increase of $300 million for the COPS Hiring Program to help hire more law enforcement professionals. (The net increase would be $265 million because $35 million would be cut elsewhere.)

The additional money would include:

• $53 million for school violence prevention 

• $46 million for tribal programs

• $8 million for law enforcement mental health and wellness;

• $15 million for anti-methamphetamine task forces

• $35 million for anti-heroin task forces

There is no guarantee that Congress will go along with the levels laid out in Biden's budget proposal; spending legislation will take months to determine. In addition, the $265 million increase is a bit less than the $300 million increase Biden proposed during the campaign.

Still, it's a significant down payment on Biden's campaign promise, so we rate the promise In the Works.

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