FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         
Tuesday, July 28, 2009      

CONTACT: Cullen Schwarz                                                 
(202) 225-5802

OAKLAND COUNTY CITIES ADDING POLICE JOBS WITH RECOVERY DOLLARS

Pontiac, Farmington, Southfield, OCC Dept. of Public Safety Will Have More Community Police Officers with Grants Announced Today

Oakland County, MI – Oakland County public safety departments will have more police officers on their streets in the coming years due to nearly $2 million in economic recovery fund grants awarded today.  The COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Hiring Recovery Program grants will provide 100 percent of the salary and benefits for approved officer positions over a three year period.  Pontiac has been awarded an $851,596 grant to fund four officers, Southfield will receive $624,378 for two officers, Farmington was awarded $253,398 for one officer and Oakland Community College Department of Public Safety will use $204,468 for one officer.  Recovery funded COPS grants provide much needed support to local government budgets and will help law enforcement agencies add and retain the manpower needed to fight crime more effectively through community policing.

“COPS grants from the economic recovery plan create law enforcement jobs and make our communities safer,” said Congressman Gary Peters, a member of the Law Enforcement Caucus and advocate of including COPS funding in the economic recovery plan.  “Too many local police departments now find themselves under tremendous fiscal strain, with budgets stretched thin and officers facing layoffs.  While Michigan fights through the recession, supporting local police departments must be a top priority to maintain safe neighborhoods and aid in our economic recovery.”

Nationwide, $1 billion in grants will fund the hiring and rehiring of 4,699 law enforcement officers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  The grants will be administered by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services through the federal agency’s COPS Hiring Recovery Program and will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies.

Created in 1994 under the Clinton Administration, the COPS hiring grants program has been enormously successful, helping local law enforcement agencies to hire 117,000 additional police officers from 1995 to 2005.  Independent studies confirm that the COPS program contributed to the national crime rate reduction over this period of time.

For more information on COPS grants awarded throughout Michigan, click here.  For general information about the grant awards announced today, click here. 

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