Congresswoman Barbara Lee Joins Federal Officials to Announce Hiring Grants to Support California Law Enforcement
For Immediate Release: September 17, 2013
Contact: Katherine Jolly (510) 763-3194
Oakland, CA – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) joined the U.S. Department of Justice and officials from the cities of Oakland, East Palo Alto, Gustine, Watsonville, and Alameda County to announce nearly $20 million in Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant awards to 39 cities and counties in California aimed at creating 105 law enforcement positions. Oakland will receive $4.5 million and Alameda County will receive $2.3 million to hire new police officers.
“I am pleased to announce this critical federal funding for police officers in Oakland and Alameda County.” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “Bolstering local law enforcement is an important component of developing a comprehensive approach to creating healthy and safe communities and preventing the violence that plagues too many of our nation’s cities. These competitive grants are essential to our police force, and this financial support will make a positive impact in the efforts to make our communities safer.”
“The grants we announced today are part of the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to help dedicated local law enforcement professionals build safer, stronger communities," said Tony West, Associate Attorney General of the United States. “These awards will help our partners in jurisdictions across the state of California hire more officers and better work with the communities they serve to address public safety issues.”
The COPS Hiring Program offers grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire community policing officers. The program provides salaries and benefits for officer and deputy hires for three years. Grantees for the 2013 hiring program were selected based on their fiscal needs, local crime rates, and community policing plans.
“The COPS Office is pleased to assist local law enforcement agencies throughout the country in addressing their most critical needs,” said Joshua Ederheimer, Acting Director of the COPS Office. “We have a successful history of partnering with law enforcement across California, and look forward to collaborating on progressive public safety strategies that could assist the entire field of policing.”
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1995, COPS has awarded over $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 125,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training, and technical assistance.
The full list of California grantees can be found here.
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