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Rahall Announces Grant Opportunity through COPS Program 

2/18/2009 

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) today announced that the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will begin taking applications for a COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) starting in March of 2009.

 

“Additional police officers will increase the safety of our streets and our communities in southern West Virginia,” said Rahall.  “These grants will fulfill the promise of the Recovery Act passed by the Congress last week through the direct preservation and creation of jobs in communities.”

 

The COPS Office will receive the funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to address the personnel needs of state and local law enforcement.  CHRP is a competitive grant program that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to create and preserve jobs and to increase their community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts. 

 

Up to $1 billion in grant funding will be available nationwide for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers.  There is no local match requirement for CHRP, but grant funding will be based on current entry-level salaries and benefits packages.  Any additional costs for higher salaries or benefits for particular individuals hired will be the responsibility of the grantee agency. 

 

“I have fought tooth and nail for increased funding to hire additional police officers through the COPS program,” said Rahall. “The COPS program is America’s first line of defense spending—putting cops on our streets to protect West Virginians from the spread of drugs, possible terrorist attacks and other daily problems that arise.”

Rachael Berkey