Department of Justice awards grants to IMPD

Indianapolis – U. S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today funding awards from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. A series of grants totaling over $2.5 million was announced; the largest of which is a $1.875 million grant awarded through the COPS Hiring Plan (CHP). 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 hires for three years and will allow IMPD to hire 15 additional officers to patrol neighborhood streets.

“These grants reaffirm my promise to support IMPD and all our law enforcement partners to reduce violent crime in Indianapolis,” said Minkler. “However, this cannot be accomplished with funding and more officers alone. It is the responsibility of every citizen in this community to work toward a safer Indianapolis. When one of us becomes a crime victim, we should all feel the pain.” 

“We are grateful to receive the COPS grant as it will help us augment hiring next year and help us as we plan for subsequent years to sustain those numbers,” said Department of Public Safety Director Dr. David Wantz.

“We are grateful to be awarded four federal grants to continue our partnerships within the community.  I would like to personally thank the COPS Office for this prestigious award. In our continual effort to be efficient, these grants are instrumental in allowing IMPD to put more officers on the streets,” said Chief Rick Hite.  “Additional officers will enable us to continue to combat crimes and build stronger community partnerships within our neighborhoods, all of which are mentioned as pillars in the President’s 21^st Century Policing report.”  

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.”

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.

Other grants awarded to Indianapolis include:

$294,000 for Project Safe Neighborhoods, an anti-gun and gang initiative

$250,000 for a criminal justice and mental health collaboration

$150,000 to fight crime in hot spot areas of Indianapolis

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