The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is an agency within the United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

. COPS was established through a provision in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, , , was an act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement that became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the US at 356 pages and will provide for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons and...

. Since 1994, COPS has provided $11.3 billion in assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

 to help in hiring additional police officer

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

s. In 1995, COPS funded $1,225.1 million in programs and assistance, with funding significantly cut in 2000 to $685.3 million.

Bernard K. Melekian is the Director of the COPS Office since 2009-10-05

External links

• Community Oriented Policing Services