Washington, D.C. - Congressman John Barrow (GA-12) announced today that the Chatham County Police Department will receive $418,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) in grants to improve coordination between the Police Department and United States Attorneys who focus on reducing child endangerment.  The funds were awarded to the Chatham Police Department under the Child Sexual Predator Program and will help officials locate, arrest, and prosecute child sexual predators, and enforce state sex offender registration laws.

"The perverts who prey on children need to be stopped," said Barrow.  "This has to be a top priority for law enforcement, and these funds will help us catch these criminals quicker and put them away for a very, very long time."

"We are pleased to support efforts that will imprison those who prey on children," said COPS Director Carl R. Peed. "Sexual predation against children is a heinous crime, and state and local governments have come to realize that they can be most effective catching and prosecuting these criminals when they work together."

The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide.  Since 1995, COPS has awarded over $9 billion to advance community policing.  Grants have been awarded to more than 13,200 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of 117,000 officers and provide support in the form of training, technical assistance, and other resources.

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Contact: Jane Brodsky, 202- 225-2823

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