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Garner police get $172K in new COPS grants

Staff reports

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, the only N.C. member of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced Thursday, July 30 that the Garner Police Department will receive $172,356 to hire another police officer.

“COPS [Community Oriented Policing Services] funding ensures that our communities, towns and cities remain safe and secure places to live and raise a family,” Etheridge said. “By helping hire more police officers, the Recovery Act supports local efforts to protect our communities. It also boosts the economy by creating jobs.”

The new grants for Garner are a part of more than $1 billion in grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 under the Department of Justice COPS Hiring Recovery Program. Although these grants usually require a local law enforcement agency to share in the cost of hiring officers, the Recovery Act waived that requirement in view of the economic downturn.

To date, grants have been made to more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states to create and preserve jobs.

CHRP provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHRP grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire police officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

CHRP grants will provide 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for officers who have been laid off or are scheduled to be laid off as a result of local budget cuts.

More information regarding the CHRP for North Carolina can be found at cops.usdoj.gov.

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