U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AWARDS LAW ENFORCEMENT HIRING GRANTS TO HELP BUILD TRUST, REDUCE VIOLENCE AND PROTECT SCHOOLS

Contact: Donald E. Clark
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) funding awards to four municipalities and one county in the District of Maine aimed at creating five law enforcement positions. Over $107 million will be awarded nationally, through the COPS Hiring Program (CHP), including $625,000 in Maine.

The list of this year’s grantees includes:  the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department and the municipalities of Fort Kent, Norway, Old Town and Winslow.

“The COPS Office is pleased to assist local law enforcement agencies throughout the country in addressing their most critical public safety issues,” said Ronald L. Davis, Director of the COPS Office. “These grants are not simply about putting more officers on the street, they are about expanding the capacity of law enforcement agencies to engage in community policing.”

CHP provides grants to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire community policing officers. The program provides salaries and benefits for officer and deputy hires for three years.

Thomas E. Delahanty II, United States Attorney for the District of Maine, said that COPS has been a highly successful program for 20 years and that Maine law enforcement agencies have received many grants that have provided much needed resources for a variety of projects. The five grants to Maine agencies this year will be used to assist the agencies in different ways.

Naldo Gagnon, Chief Deputy Sheriff for Cumberland County, said that they will use to funds to provide a School Resource Officer for the Town of Gray which does not have its own police department.  It will be of great assistance to that town.

Thomas Pelletier, Chief of Police of Fort Kent, said that the grant will allow Fort Kent to add an officer increasing the size of the department by 25 percent.  The police have had a noticeable increase in calls for assistance over the past few years, but the town has been unable to finance an additional officer.  The police assist with security at the community hospital which serves the region and responds to calls from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and at the border, given the town's proximity to a major border crossing.

Together with the Norway, Old Town and Winslow Police Departments, the five recipients will receive a total of $650,000, at $125,000 for each position.

Priority consideration was given this year to agencies that selected any of the Building Trust focus areas or School Based Policing through School Resource Officers.  All applicants were encouraged to refer to the report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing for suggested actions to incorporate into their proposed community policing strategy.

The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1995, COPS has invested over $14 billion 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 approximately 127,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training, and technical assistance.

For the entire list of grantees and additional information about the 2015 COPS Hiring Program, visit the COPS website at www.cops.usdoj.gov.