SAFE STREETS BILL 215

This recognition is reflected in the "Safe Streets Bill, " H. R. 5037,
now before your committee for consideration. I support this legisla-
tion as a start toward a more vigorous attack on crime throughout the
United States, but in endorsing the bill I would also like to bring to
your attention several reservations I have about its limited scope and
effect.

It is unfortunate, in my opinion, that H. R. 5037 provides for only
$50 million in its first year to fight crime in America, when the Presi-
dent's own commission in its report recognizes crime as a billion dollar
problem. The State of Maryland alone this year, without including
any Federal grants, will spend over $91 million to combat crime in our
State. We have already begun on our own to uplift the educational
standards and minimum training requirements of law enforcement
officers through the new Maryland Police Training Commission. The
Commission was established last year and the new standards will take
effect June 1. We also have embarked on a reorganization of our State
correctional system. We hope by a rigid investigation to rid the system
of misfits and obtain better overall quality in our personnel. We also
hope to establish better planning, research and training for our parole
and probation personnel to more realistically and more economically
screen and rehabilitate those who have violated our laws.

While we welcome the Federal assistance that will become available
through H. R. 5037, I think we should take a more realistic approach
to our attack on crime. I believe that too much emphasis has been
placed on the "innovative functions" and not enough on the practical
day-to-day problems of our law enforcement and correctional officers.

I do not disparage the value of or the philosophy behind the require-
ment of "innovative function. " In fact, I have already encouraged in
Maryland the use of the tools available to us in this electronic age by
sponsoring budgetary legislation that will provide our State and the
metropolitan Baltimore area with computerized record keeping of
criminal data.

But even with such steps, how can we expect professional production
from our law enforcement officers, our correctional officers, and our
parole and probation personnel when we pay them salaries in some
areas of our country equivalent to those of common laborers? Thus,
while I favor the provisions of H. R. 5037 for planning and program
grants to state and local governments, and its encouragement of inno-
vative efforts against street crimes, I cannot help but feel that we are