INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS

Abstract

Along with cuts to payroll taxes; jobs to revamp transportation infrastructure; employment for our nation's veterans; and extension of unemployment insurance, the President's proposal would provide $4 billion in funding for the COPS Hiring Program to enable the new hiring and rehiring of thousands of law enforcement officers across the nation, as well as the prevention of officer layoffs. Since its implementation in 1994, the COPS Hiring Program has afforded state and local law enforcement agencies the ability to hire much-needed personnel to advance community policing efforts and anti-crime programs, they said, adding that the NSA "applauds President Obama and Vice President Biden for their strong and unwavering support of our nation's law enforcement; in these tough economic times, the proposed $4 billion for COPS Hiring would be a monumental step forward to not only create and preserve essential public safety jobs, but ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools and resources necessary to protect the safety and security of their communities nationwide."

Despite the fact that Texas has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country and health care costs to inmates are rapidly increasing nationally, a decade ago the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) through the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) teamed with Business Computer Applications Inc. (BCA) , creating an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) program that has saved Texas taxpayers nearly $1 billion dollars over the last 10 years, according to a new study by the Gärtner Group. "BCA's EMR coupled with UTMB's and Texas Tech's telemedicine services have helped UTMB and Texas Tech provide improved access to specialists, continuity of care, and follow-up care while decreasing costs," says Michael J. Bourdeau, Director of Correctional Managed Care (CMC) Information Systems at UTMB.

The National Sheriffs Association has praised President Obama's recent unveiling of The American Jobs Act - a series of initiatives aimed at creating and preserving jobs throughout the United States. Along with cuts to payroll taxes; jobs to revamp transportation infrastructure; employment for our nation's veterans; and extension of unemployment insurance, the President's proposal would provide $4 billion in funding for the COPS Hiring Program to enable the new hiring and rehiring of thousands of law enforcement officers across the nation, as well as the prevention of officer layoffs. Since its implementation in 1994, the COPS Hiring Program has afforded state and local law enforcement agencies the ability to hire much-needed personnel to advance community policing efforts and anti-crime programs, they said, adding that the NSA "applauds President Obama and Vice President Biden for their strong and unwavering support of our nation's law enforcement; in these tough economic times, the proposed $4 billion for COPS Hiring would be a monumental step forward to not only create and preserve essential public safety jobs, but ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools and resources necessary to protect the safety and security of their communities nationwide."