Oak Park Awarded Grants to Hire Three Police Officers
Press Release
Oak Park Department of Public Safety has been awarded $681,363 in COPS Hiring Program grants to hire three police officers, the Department of Justice announced. The department is among 221 recipients of the grants nationwide. Eight agencies in Michigan received awards.
"These grants provide a tremendous resource for our community at a time when police departments around the country continue to face extremely trying financial challenges," said Rep. Sander Levin. "I commend Oak Park for their work in securing this award and will continue to work to support this important program."
"The Oak Park Public Safety Department is extremely grateful and excited that we have been awarded funding from the 2012 Cops Hiring Grant Program to be used for three Public Safety Officer Positions," said Steve Cooper, Oak Park Director of Public Safety. "Due to very difficult fiscal times, we were forced to lay off 15 Public Safety Officers. The funding from the Cops Grant is desperately needed and very much appreciated."
ABOUT THE COPS HIRING PROGRAM
The COPS Hiring Program provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. The grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new and/or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. A unique change for the 2012 program requires that all new officers hired under the grant must be military veterans that have served at least 180 days of active military service, any part of which occurred on or after September 11, 2001.
This year's CHP grants provide 75 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years (36 months) for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts. Any additional costs above the approved entry-level salaries and fringe benefits, up to $125,000, are the responsibility of the grantee agency.
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