Department Of Justice Provides Over $1M in Grants to Local Law Enforcement for Community Oriented Policing

Fairview Heights, Ill. – U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft announced today that four local law
enforcement agencies will be receiving a total of more than $1 million in grant awards from the
Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program.
Community-oriented policing focuses on building ties and working closely with community members.
The following police departments in the Southern District of Illinois have been awarded COPS
funding:

Anna Police Department      $125,000

Brooklyn Police Department $123,044

Caseyville Police Department $125,000

Collinsville Police Department $750,000

These police departments were among 596 law enforcement agencies across the nation chosen to
receive COPS grants totaling $400 million. The funds are expected to provide financial support to
hire additional full-time law enforcement professionals and enhance local community policing
strategies and tactics.

“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.”

U.S. Attorney Weinhoeft said, “We are a self-governing nation, which requires a relationship
between the government and the community that it serves. In these turbulent times, we see the
damage that occurs when those relationships are fractured. These grants reflect a substantial
commitment to help strengthen those bonds and provide support for the valuable work these police
departments are already doing for the communities they protect. For the residents of
Anna, Brooklyn, Caseyville, and Collinsville, this is very good news.”

he COPS Hiring Program is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime  and
advanc public safety through community policing by providing direct funding for the hiring of
career law enforcement officers. 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.
For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.