Payne, Menendez, Booker Announce $4.4M COPS Grants to Enhance Public Safety in NJ, East Orange, Essex County, Jersey City

Statement

Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), and U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, today announced $4,357,166 in federal funding to put more police officers on the streets and enhance narcotics and gang enforcement operations. The grants are awarded through the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), but funding for first responders and other vital programs have been put in jeopardy while the Republican House threatens to shut down the government and hold grants like these in limbo.

"This funding will ensure that East Orange and Essex County have the officers they need to reduce crime and improve the safety of residents through enhanced community policing," said Rep. Payne, Jr. "Putting these funds at risk is an abandonment of our shared duty to protect the public, and it is an insult to the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. The security of our residents and our communities should never be threatened by partisan politics."

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