The Department of Justice today announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’ COPS Hiring Program (CHP). In Idaho, the City of Twin Falls received an award of $500,000 to hire 4 officers and the City of Nampa received an award of $250,000 for 2 officers.
CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. CHP provides funds directly to 183 law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
“I’m elated that the Twin Falls Police Department is a recipient of the 2021 COPS Hiring Grant,” said Twin Falls Police Chief, Craig Kingsbury. “This will allow the City of Twin Falls to add four new officers and assist us in continuing with our connection-based and community oriented policing strategies in our growing community.”
Since its creation in 1994, COPS Hiring Grant (CHP) has invested more than $14 billion nationwide to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers. The CHP flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In fiscal year 2021, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For fiscal year 2022, President Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.
“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”
About the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services:
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served.
Helpful Links:
Learn More About CHP: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/1abd7f6b/yD8xA-tpSkusVRxhKu0KqQ?u=https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-award
Learn More About the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/3054702c/98T4vMng30mExuvmIFJG5A?u=https://cops.usdoj.gov/