By Staff
special to The Star
Oct. 2, 2002
U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows, D-Miss., has co-sponsored a House bill calling for more funding to hire extra police officers under the COPS program.
Under the House Republican leadership's budget, Mississippi would lose $25.8 million, which would mean lost funding for 345 police officers, Shows said in a statement.
The proposal also has the backing of William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations.
COPS stands for Community Oriented Policing Services. The COPS program, under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, awards grants to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to help reduce crime.
Shows represents the 4th Congressional District. When Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat this year in congressional redistricting, Shows was placed in a newly redrawn 3rd District.
Shows is facing U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, a Republican, in the Nov. 5 election for the newly redrawn 3rd District. Pickering now represents the current 3rd District.