In 1964, a 15 year old African American was shot and killed by a police officer in front of about a dozen witnesses. In response 4,000 New Yorkers participated in six days of rioting that led to attacks on the New York Police Department, vandalism and looting in stores. Those were turbulent times and by 1967 President Lyndon Johnson had declared a war on crime. Johnson took a very hardline, calling on the Federal government to provide funding and better training for law enforcement, and for cities and towns across the nation to increase their police forces and pay law enforcement officers more. The culmination of his efforts resulted in the passing of the Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968. Over the years, LBJ's war on crime, along with his war on poverty generated a lot of controversy, but in this post, I will focus only on the view shared by President Johnson in his State of the Union and signing statement.
President Johnson's first step was to appoint 19 members to the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice with the encouragement that they be revolutionary in their recommendations. The commission made many sweeping recommendations and became the basis of the Safe Streets Act and Crime Control Act Johnson signed into law in 1968. The law authorized $400 million in Federal grants to strengthen law enforcement, expand National training of police officers, and increased actions on gun control. President Johnson knew that crime weighed heavy on the minds of Americans, and he promised to "support--with all the constitutional powers the President possesses--our Nation's law enforcement officials in their attempt to control the crime and the violence that tear the fabric of our communities."
President Johnson introduced the Safe Streets Act in his 1967 State of the Union Address and urged Congress to support it. Johnson declared a "war on crime" that Washington alone could not win. To win the war, Johnson said that our policemen needed better , better pay and more support from local citizens.
"Now we come to a question that weighs very heavily on all our minds--on yours and mine. This Nation must make an all-out effort to combat crime.
The 89th Congress gave us a new start in the attack on crime by passing the Law Enforcement Assistance Act that I recommended. We appointed the National Crime Commission to study crime in America and to recommend the best ways to carry that attack forward.
And while we do not have all the answers, on the basis of its preliminary recommendations we are ready to move.
This is not a war that Washington alone can win. The idea of a national police force is repugnant to the American people. Crime must be rooted out in local communities by local authorities. Our policemen must be better trained, must be better paid, and must be better supported by the local citizens that they try to serve and to protect.
The National Government can and expects to help.
And so I will recommend to the 90th Congress the Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1967. It will enable us to assist those States and cities that try to make their streets and homes safer, their police forces better, their corrections systems more effective, and their courts more efficient.
When the Congress approves, the Federal Government will be able to provide a substantial percentage of the cost:
--90 percent of the cost of developing the State and local plans, master plans, to combat crime in their area;
--60 percent of the cost of training new tactical units, developing instant communications and special alarm systems, and introducing the latest equipment and techniques so that they can become weapons in the war on crime;
--50 percent of the cost of building crime laboratories and police academy-type centers so that our citizens can be protected by the best trained and served by the best equipped police to be found anywhere. We will also recommend new methods to prevent juvenile delinquents from becoming adult delinquents. We will seek new partnerships with States and cities in order to deal with this hideous narcotics problem. And we will recommend strict controls on the sale of firearms.
At the heart of this attack on crime must be the conviction that a free America--as Abraham Lincoln once said--must 'let reverence for the laws . . . become the political religion of the Nation.'
Our country's laws must be respected. Order must be maintained. And I will support--with all the constitutional powers the President possesses--our Nation's law enforcement officials in their attempt to control the crime and the violence that tear the fabric of our communities.
Many of these priority proposals will be built on foundations that have already been laid. Some will necessarily be small at first, but 'every beginning is a consequence.' If we postpone this urgent work now, it will simply have to be done later, and later we will pay a much higher price."
President Johnson signed the Safe Streets and Crime Control Act on June 19, 1968. In his statement on the signing, he highlighted four measures to help fight crime:
“--Authorizing $400 million in Federal grants over a 2-year period for planning and launching action programs to strengthen the sinews of local law enforcement-from police to prisons to parole.
--Creating a National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice to begin a modern research and development venture which will put science and the laboratory to work in the detection of criminals and the prevention of crime.
--Establishing a pioneering aid-to-education program of forgivable college loans and tuition grants to attract better law enforcement officers and give them better education and preparation.
--Providing greatly expanded training for State and local police officers at the National Academy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
--Permitting Federal funds to be used to supplement police salaries and to encourage the specialized training of community service officers whose mission will be to ease tensions in ghetto neighborhoods."
Johnson, wrote in his statement that the Federal Government was acting, but additional actions were needed from cities and counties across America.
"The cities must increase the size of their police forces.
The cities must pay their law enforcement officials more.
The local communities must train them better.
The cities and the States must streamline their courts and correctional institutions."
He closed his statement with a call to church leaders and parents to provide spiritual and moral leadership.
"I call upon our church leaders and every parent to provide the spiritual and moral leadership necessary to make this a law-abiding Nation, with respect for the rights of others, respect for their system of government, and support for those charged with the responsibility of protecting our lives, our homes, and our liberties."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2021. Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union. | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-the-congress-the-state-the-union-28> [Accessed 24 April 2021].
Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2021. Statement by the President Upon Signing the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-the-president-upon-signing-the-omnibus-crime-control-and-safe-streets-act-1968> [Accessed 24 April 2021].
Npr.org. 2021. NPR Cookie Consent and Choices. [online] Available at: <https://www.npr.org/2017/10/06/542487124/president-johnson-s-crime-commission-report-50-years-later> [Accessed 24 April 2021].
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