U.S. Department Of Justice Awards $13.7 Million To Hire Community Policing Officers In New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Justice, through its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP), awarded a total of $13,702,158 to New Jersey police departments for the purposes of creating, or in some cases protecting, 95 law enforcement positions dedicated to improving community policing efforts in the state, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

The awards were part of $119 million in grants funds announced today by the U.S. Justice Department that were given to 184 law enforcement agencies across the nation. The New Jersey recipients include:

CHP provides funding directly to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies for the hiring and rehiring of entry-level career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. All CHP applicants were asked to identify a specific crime and disorder problem area and how funding would be used to initiate or enhance their capacity to implement community policing approaches to that problem area.

In 2016, the COPS Office gave additional consideration to applicant agencies selecting the category of “Building Trust,” based on the final report of the President’s Task Force on 21^st Century Policing. Additional consideration was also given to agencies that selected the areas of school-based policing, homicide or violent crime, and homeland security. Applicants who committed to hiring or rehiring at least one military veteran under CHP also received additional consideration for funding. The full list of recipients can be found here: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/default.asp?Item=2888.

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 129,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training, and technical assistance.