Honorable Mayor Tony F.

Mack
319 East State Street City of Trenton, New Jersey 609-989-3030
www.trentonnj.org

For Immediate Release: October 7, 2011

Contact: Lauren J. Ira Office: 609-989-3030

Mayor Macks Trip to The White House Provides Actionable Hope

TRENTONMayor Tony Mack met with President Barack Obamas Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House and the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) at their offices, today. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss the recent layoffs within our City Police Department. The Department of Justice informed Mayor Mack that the Citys COPS application, while strong and complete, will be held until there is new funding available. Officials also made it clear that no emergency funding is immediately available to offset recent layoffs in our police department. Mayor Mack requested that the Citys application remain actively on file until such time that a federal appropriation is made in the Fiscal Year 2012 federal budget or through President Obamas American Jobs Act. Officials from the DOJ assured the Mayor that the City application will be revisited by their office as soon as there is a new allocation of funds. Not wanting to leave our nations capital empty-handed Mayor Mack brokered a deal with the DOJ that would build a bridge between our police department and their COPS office in order to share best practices on 21ST century policing. DOJ officials also extended an open door for City of Trenton police leadership to visit their COPS office to create a systematic plan for the Citys public safety. Specifically, the Department of Justice has agreed to share information related to research and technology. Mayor Mack hoped to return to Trenton with an emergency appropriation that would have allowed us to rehire many of our police that were recently laid off. While we will have to wait for funding it is important to recognize that the dialogue was a necessary step in creating a long lasting partnership between the federal government and the City of Trenton. We are also asking residents to reach out to their congressional representatives and encourage them to pass President Obamas American Jobs Act. Mayor Mack intends to champion this initiative in New Jersey. Mayor Mack isn't done lobbying on behalf of Trenton's needs. He has decided to reach out to the Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader in order to encourage both legislators to pass important legislation sends funds to cities like Trenton that have very real public safety issues. We will send both offices letters in hopes we can make our cases to them directly and then make another trip down to our nation's capital for another round of lobbying for public safety in our Capital City.

For more information on the City of Trenton, please visit our website at www.trentonnj.org