The City of Laredo has made it a goal to enhance the quality of life in Laredo by providing optimum police services. In 1995, the City of Laredo received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to begin the implementation of the Community-Oriented Policing (COPS) philosophy. Through this grant, the Laredo Police Department was able to hire six new police officers that concentrated on community policing initiatives. These officers were assigned to specific areas of the city that recorded a high crime rate and had visible signs of social disorganization. After several months, community policing officers assigned to this area made such a positive impact that the Laredo Police Department (LPD) decided to implement the philosophy citywide.

Current Implementation

Today, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Laredo Police Department has hired approximately 155 police officers to focus on community policing issues. The added personnel have enabled the LPD to implement the philosophy at a citywide level and establish the foundation of COPS. To date, millions in federal funding dollars through the COPS Office of the DOJ have been awarded to the City of Laredo for continued hiring of personnel (both sworn and civilian) and for the acquisition of better equipment and newer technology to enhance Laredo’s COPS model of policing. The last COPS grants that the Laredo Police Department received were two Cops in Schools grants from the U.S. Department of Justice. This award allowed the LPD to hire 24 new police officers and assign them to schools in order to expand even further on the community-oriented policing philosophy. Additionally, the department last received an award under COPS MORE 2001 for the procurement of Mobile Data Terminals (MDT). This technology has allowed officers to access vital information from their patrol cars using laptop computers. The MDTs have greatly increased officer safety and improved the department’s overall efficiency. This equipment has already been installed in all of the department’s marked units.

Future Needs

The City of Laredo and the Laredo Police Department are grateful for the federal funding that has been instrumental in improving policing services and enhancing the quality of life in Laredo. However, because of the city’s continuing, ever-burgeoning and explosive, unprecedented growth, that has called for added personnel and increased police services, the Laredo Police Department needs continued financial help to defray the costs of hiring additional staff (civilian and sworn) and acquiring more equipment and technology. The Laredo Police Department is comprised of approximately 420 sworn police officers and 80 civilian employees. These officers have to service a fluctuating population of 200,000 – 250,000 inhabitants. This translates to approximately 1.6 officers for every 1,000 inhabitants. The national average is at about 2.4 officers for every 1,000 inhabitants. These numbers clearly show there is a need for added sworn personnel in the Laredo Police Department. Civilian personnel are also needed to accommodate a growing city and departmental needs. The work done by civilian personnel allows officers to be redeployed to the streets for field duty, where their services are more beneficial to the community. Equipment, such as vehicles, radios, weapons and protective body armor (bulletproof vests) are desperately needed for the continued enhancement of a successful implementation of the COPS philosophy. Finally, the department must keep up with technology in order to provide the best possible service to its citizens. Technology such as crime analysis software, investigative software, fingerprinting technology and computer networking are just a few of the accoutrements that the Laredo Police Department must have in order to continue to provide the best possible law enforcement services to its community. The Laredo Police Department, city government and the community have embraced Community-Oriented Policing. As such, continued support, both local and federal, is essential for the success of our community-policing philosophy. Although Congress has slashed funding for COPS recently, it is imperative that DOJ finds and offers more creative ways to finance law enforcement services without overly taxing the communities we serve. LPD is amenable to assisting in this regard provided that perhaps some of COPS previous FY budgets include additional monies for hiring more personnel and the acquisition of more equipment and technology for LPD. (Note: LPD still has an application for COPS funds to hire 60 additional officers that has not been denied as of this date.) Sixty additional officers would give us a higher level of human resource strength in order to better accomplish our mission “to protect and serve” the citizens of the City of Laredo, Texas.

Funding

Funding requested for the 60 additional officers:		$4,500,000
Local share		$5,415.840
Total		$9,915,840

Funding History

City of Laredo	Yr	# of Officers	Funding
COPS AHEAD	1995	06	$448,398
UHP*	1996	10	$750,000
UHP	1997	10	$750,000
UHP	1998	20	$1,500,000
UHP	1999	30	$2,250,000
UHP	2002	40	$3,000,000
MORE 2000**	2000	2.1	$51,973
MORE 2001***	2001	40	$1,000,000
COPS IN SCHOOLS****	2001	14	$1,750,000
UHP	2002	15	$1,125,000
COPS IN SCHOOLS	2002	10	$1,250,000
Totals		197.1	$13,875,371

*Universal Hiring Program
** Civilian Personnel
***Equipment (MDTs)
****School Resource Officers