The U.S. Justice Department has given $107 million in grants to nearly 200 law enforcement agencies to create or protect 866 policing jobs. It was part of the annual police hiring announcement from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). “These awards will not only keep more officers on the beat – they will address specific issue areas like violent crime, school safety, homeland security, and community trust,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
COPS provides funding to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies for the hiring and rehiring of entry-level law enforcement officers. All applicants were asked to identify a specific crime and disorder problem area and how funding would be used in community policing approaches to that problem area. This year, COPS said it “gave additional consideration” to agencies that said they wanted to pursue “building trust,” as discussed by President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Some 76 agencies will get funding for 353 jobs under the “building trust” category. The list of grantees can be found at http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2015AwardDocs/chp/CHP_Award_List.pdf