WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) Thursday voted to reauthorize funding for "COPS," a federal grant program proven to reduce crime by helping local law enforcement agencies put more police on the beat.

Over the next five years, the bill is expected to provide for the hiring of 50,000 more officers nationwide, including 486 in South Carolina.

The COPS Improvements Act, H.R. 1139, passed the House by a large bipartisan majority.

H.R. 1139 would:

authorize $1.25 billion per year over the next five years for hiring grants, which can be used to hire officers for community policing, School Resource Officers, or counter-terrorism duties.

reinstitute the Troopsto COPS Program (which lapsed in 2005), which awards grants to hire former members of the Armed Forces as career law enforcement officers.

authorize $350 million a year for the next five years for technology grants. These grants will allow police agencies to purchase things like laptop computers for patrol cars, crime mapping software, and interoperable communications equipment.

authorize $200 million per year to help hire community prosecutors. The bill also authorizes funds for community prosecuting programs - including programs that assign prosecutors to try cases in specific geographic areas.

"The COPS program has been an enormous success since its creation in 1994 during the Clinton Administration," said Spratt. "It's been a big plus for local law enforcement in South Carolina."

Spratt said that from 1995 to 2005, South Carolina received $109.7 million in COPS grants, which allowed the state to hire an additional 1,136 police officers.