US Announces N57b Fund To Hire 1066 Police Officers

The United States Department of Justice on Thursday announced about $139 million (N 57,103,980,000) in grant funding to enable 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation “to hire 1,066 additional full-time” community police officers.

This was disclosed in a press release on the department’s official website.

It added that through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and COPS Hiring Program (CHP), more law enforcement professionals would be recruited to effectively guard against crime in designated communities.

According to US Attorney General, Merrick B. Garland, more than 1,000 additional officers are needed to “support vitally important community oriented policing programs.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said AG Garland.

The fund is provided to boost policing.

“Of the 183 agencies awarded grants today, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis,” the department stated.