For Immediate Release
August 4, 2005
CONTACT: Gilbert Moore
(202) 616-1728
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES $4.8 MILLION IN GRANTS TO ADD OFFICERS TO AMERICA’S STREETS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
today announced $4.8 million in grants to fund the hiring of 65 new community policing officers in 25 communities.
The grants were awarded under the Universal Hiring Program, and fund 75 percent of the total salary and benefits
of each new officer over three years, up to a maximum of $75,000 per officer. All jurisdictions that receive
grants must retain the COPS-funded officer position for at least one local budget cycle following the federal
funding period.
Since 1995, COPS has funded the hiring of more than 118,000 community policing officers through grants that
have been awarded to over 13,000 of the nation’s estimated 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies.
These grants help make neighborhoods safer by increasing the number of officers available to patrol local
communities and engage in community policing.
"Today’s grants will provide police and sheriffs’ departments with added resources, and it will help make
our communities safer places to live and work," said COPS Director Carl R. Peed. "The grants will place
officers on the front line of the fight against crime, and will improve their agencies ability to protect and serve."
In addition to funding law enforcement positions, COPS has been the catalyst for innovations in community
policing and the broad implementation of this effective law enforcement strategy. Statistics indicate that 64 percent of
the nation’s law enforcement agencies, serving 86 percent of the U.S. population engage in community policing.
For additional information about today’s grants, or to learn which law enforcement agencies received grants,
please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.
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