Summary: The Police Corps program was established to help local and state law enforcement agencies increase the number of officers with advanced education and training assigned to community patrol. The program offers competitive scholarships of up to $7,500 a year with a lifetime maximum of $30,000 to college students who agree to earn a Bachelor's Degree and then agree to serve as police officers on a beat for a least four years. GAO found that the Police Corps program has gotten off to a slower-than-expected start, and most participant slots remained unfilled. As of September 1999, about 43 percent of the 1,007 positions funded for fiscal years 1996 through 1998 had been filled. This situation was due to various causes, from the failure of the Community Oriented Policing Services Office to provide federal administrative funds and adequate staffing for the program to the fact that the Police Corps statute did not provide funding for states' administrative and recruiting costs. The Community Oriented Policing Services Office transferred the Office of the Police Corps to the Office of Justice Programs in December 1998. Although the Office of Justice Programs has made significant progress in obligating funds and establishing interagency agreements with the participating states, it is too soon to tell whether the Office of Justice Programs will succeed in filling more participant slots and continue to provide guidance.
