Department of Justice Awards $2.1 Million in Grants to Three Nevada Agencies to Prevent School Violence

      LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for Nevada, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), is pleased to announce that on Monday, Sept. 29, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded three grants totaling $2,125,000 to the North Las Vegas Police Department, the City of Elko, and the Elko County Sheriff’s Office for the hiring of 17 law enforcement officers.

The Justice Department announced the funding awards to the three agencies under the COPS Hiring Program, which provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire or re-hire career law enforcement officers, and to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.  The program provides salaries and benefits for officer and deputy hires for three years. Grantees for the 2014 hiring program were selected based on their fiscal needs, local crime rates, and community policing plans.

“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. “Funding from this year’s program will allow many cities and counties to apply new sworn personnel to issues related to violent crime, property crime, and school safety.”

Nearly $124 million in grants was awarded nationally under the hiring program, including the $2.1 million for the District of Nevada. Of that, $1.6 million was awarded to the North Las Vegas Police Department for the hiring of 13 officers, $375,000 was awarded to the Elko County Sheriff’s Office for the hiring of three officers, and $125,000 was awarded to the City of Elko for the hiring of one officer.

“The Department of Justice continues to support the efforts of law enforcement in Nevada,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden.  “This program is specifically designed to advance public safety through community policing, including the hiring of school police officers or school resource officers.  Bullying, stalking and other interpersonal crimes affect our children at an alarming rate, making these positions more important than ever.”

The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1995, COPS has awarded 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 125,000 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 2014 COPS Hiring Program, visit the COPS website at www.cops.usdoj.gov.