Department of Justice Awards Nearly $400 Million Nationwide, Over $2 Million in Maine, for Law Enforcement Hiring to Advance Community Policing

Portland, Maine: U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has awarded nearly $400 million to 596 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 2,732 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. The awards include over $2 million to 13 law enforcement agencies in Maine.

“The Department of Justice is committed to providing the police chiefs and sheriffs of our great nation with needed resources, tools, and support. The funding announced today will bolster their ranks and contribute to expanding community policing efforts nationwide,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “A law enforcement agency’s most valuable assets are the men and women who put their lives on the line every day in the name of protecting and serving their communities.”

“It is immensely gratifying to be able to announce these awards to our partner police departments and sheriff’s offices,” said U.S. Attorney Frank. “The awards will assist these agencies in making their communities safer through community policing initiatives.”

The following Maine law enforcement agencies received awards:

The COPS Hiring Program (CHP) is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing by providing direct funding for the hiring of career law enforcement officers. In addition to providing financial support for hiring, CHP provides funding to state, local and tribal law enforcement to enhance local community policing strategies and tactics. In a changing economic climate, CHP funding helps law enforcement agencies maintain sufficient sworn personnel levels to promote safe communities. Funding through this program had been on hold since the spring of 2018 due to a nationwide injunction that was lifted earlier this year.

CHP applicants were required to identify a specific crime and disorder problem focus area and explain how the funding will be used to implement community policing approaches to that problem focus area. Forty-three percent of the awards announced today will focus on violent crime, while the remainder of the awards will focus on a variety of issues including school-based policing to fund school resource officer positions, building trust and respect, and opioid education, prevention, and intervention. The COPS Office received nearly 1,100 applications requesting more than 4,000 law enforcement positions. 

The complete list of awards can be found here. To learn more about CHP, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.