But only if it’s spent right. Clinton himself raised some of the potential pitfalls in his first press conference after the election: “How much money should everybody be able to borrow a year? What contributions should people’s families be expected to make, if any? … How are you going to keep the colleges … from using it as an excuse to explode tuitions even more?” To which might be added far more serious potential problems on the service side of the equation: One reason national service isn’t taken more seriously in Washington is the power of Bill Clinton’s supporters in the public-employee unions, who’ll fight to keep the Domestic Peace Corps away from jobs that might be done by their members-that is, anything remotely useful. If national service isn’t carefully planned-if the unions aren’t forced to compromise-Clinton’s grand idea could turn out to be 250,000 college graduates fetching coffee, a potential source of corruption and bureaucratic bloat Republicans would happily use to bludgeon him in 1996.

The problems are daunting, but the idea-financial aid reciprocated by service, bureaucracy reinvigorated by altruism-is too important to let slip. And there is a way Clinton can move immediately to demonstrate his commitment while buying time for his more ambitious plans: ask Congress to pass the Police Corps, which could put 100,000 college-educated police officers on the streets by 1997.

The Police Corps has a multitude of social and spiritual virtues, and one enormous political advantage: it already has passed Congress, with sponsors ranging from liberal Barney Frank of Massachusetts to California Neanderthal Robert Dornan (as well as a national roster of police chiefs and the support of the Fraternal Order of Police)-but it died with the 1991 crime bill, when George Bush threatened a veto. Reintroduced, it could breeze through the legislature by spring, the first 3,000 to 5,000 new officers could be on the streets by winter. But far more important than its political viability, the Police Corps is a carefully thought-out idea, the product of 10 years of negotiation by Adam Walinsky, a former aide to Robert Kennedy who has made it his personal crusade. Along the way, Walinsky has had to convince chiefs and unions, and answer hard questions, like-how can you expect a college kid to cope with urban guerrilla warfare? In response, he developed a program far more rigorous than Clinton’s national-service model. Each recruit would have to spend two full summers in a Police Corps boot camp (more training than most police officers currently receive). Each would then serve four years on a local force (as opposed to Clinton’s two-year stint) and receive full pay, minus pension (a necessary concession to the unions). The original, $1 billion bill had training and scholarships ($10,000 per year) paid by the federal government and salaries by the local communities, but that can be modified if Clinton wants to help cities foot the bill. In fact, public safety would seem a more compelling “infrastructure” need than the porky pothole-filling programs the mayors want.

Over time, Walinsky has been surprised by the ecumenical support he’s received. Conservatives like it because it would add more cops-20 percent more nationally, almost all of whom would go into community policing (the radical “new” idea of having cops actually walk a beat, which seems to be suppressing crime in cities like New York and Houston); liberals like it because college graduates might leaven the macho Blue Culture that seems to breed brutality. Students seem enthusiastic-a poll conducted in Boston by the Justice Department found 24 percent at a private college and 40 percent at a state school ready to sign up. And Bill Clinton likes it, too: “He was present at the creation,” Walinsky says, “a founding member of my board.” It’s possible that Walinsky’s scholarship-for-service swap was the seed from which Clinton’s grander Domestic Peace Corps grew. It’s the logical place to start now, as the new president embarks on his most ambitious goal-to rebuild a national sense of community, responsibility and public altruism.