Rohrabacher should explain his vote

Dana Rohrabacher was one of only 34 Representatives to vote against HR 1700, the COPS Improvement Act of 2007. This act would enhance the funding for COPS on the BEAT programs across the nation and remove the restriction that it only apply to Cities with population over 150,000. This latter change would allow cities like Costa Mesa or Fountain Valley to apply for funding.

I am not sure what motivations Rohrabacher had, but as someone who spends so much time talking about the police problems associated with illegal aliens, this vote does not make a lot of sense. Then again, many things he does do not make a lot of sense to anyone other than Jim Gilchrist.

According to Hank Shaw, writing in the Stockton Record, the COPS program has been found to be "effective".

Critics of COPS say its effectiveness is overrated, although the federal Government Account-ability Office says otherwise. The GAO report found that from 1998 to 2000, new officers hired were responsible for stopping between 200,000 and 225,000 crimes, one third of which were violent crimes such as homicide, rape and robbery.