Washington, DC — Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation announced today that the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office) has made applications for funding available under the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). Up to $1 billion in grant funding will be available for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers. This funding was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to address the personnel needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement. Applications were posted today at www.cops.usdoj.gov.
“The COPS program is a smart investment in combating crime and keeping our neighborhoods safe. Our local police departments have successfully used these COPS hiring grants in the past, and I hope they will take advantage of this boost in federal assistance to prevent layoffs and safeguard our communities,” said Reed.
“This program can provide badly-needed support for Rhode Island police departments struggling to find the resources to protect our communities during tough times,” said Whitehouse. “After President Bush tried over and over again to cut funding for state and local law enforcement, it’s good to have new leaders with new priorities.”
“The COPS program has been a critical resource for many Rhode Island police departments. I am pleased that President Obama and Vice President Biden have made funding this program a priority again. These grants can help local communities prevent layoffs or hire additional police officers. Ensuring adequate resources for our law enforcement officials is essential in their efforts to fight crime and protect the safety of local citizens,” said Kennedy.
“The posting of today’s COPS applications is another great example of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act moving quickly to put people back to work,” said Langevin. “As I have said before, in difficult economic times we come to rely more on our police departments to support our communities. This funding is key to ensuring that Rhode Island law enforcement agencies can remain properly staffed to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
CHRP is a competitive grant program that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies having primary law enforcement authority to create and preserve jobs and to increase their community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts. There is no local match requirement for CHRP, but grant funding will be based on current entry-level salaries and benefits packages. Any additional costs for higher salaries or benefits for particular individuals hired will be the responsibility of the grantee agency.
The competitive CHRP grant solicitation opens today, March 16, 2009 and closes April 14, 2009. Applications for CHRP grants will be accepted only online through the COPS Office web site: www.cops.usdoj.gov. Questions about this program may be directed to 202.514.9079.
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