| WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Marion Berry (D-AR) announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice is accepting grant applications for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). This funding will provide up to $1 billion in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers. Applicants have until April 14th, 2009 to apply for assistance.
"Ensuring our communities remain safe is essential for economic development," said Berry. "These dollars could be a great resource for local law enforcement and I encourage them to send in an application. Providing local law enforcement with the tools they need to keep our communities secure and at the same time keep and create jobs in Arkansas is a win-win for everyone."
The CHRP is a competitive grant program designed to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHRP provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs, and to increase crime-prevention efforts and community policing capacity.
This grant will provide 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for 36 months for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions. This funding can also be used for filling existing unfunded vacancies or rehire officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts. At the conclusion of federal funding, the retained CHRP-funded jobs will be added to the grantees law enforcement budget with state or local funds.
For more information about the COPS Office and the COPS Hiring Recovery Program visit: www.cops.usdoj.gov. Potential applicants can call the COPS Office Response Center at 1-800-421-6770 or Congressman Berry's office at 1-800-866-2701. |
