Oakland, Emeryville to receive nearly $20 million in COPS Grants through Recovery Act
For Immediate Release
July 28, 2009
Contact: Nicole Y. Williams
(202) 225-2661
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) announced that Oakland and Emeryville will be awarded a combined total of nearly $20 million in funding from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program. This comes as part of an announcement today by the White House and Department of Justice of $1 billion in grants to fund the hiring and rehiring of 4,699 law enforcement officers across the country under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The City of Oakland will receive $19,747,117 to fund a total of 41 positions – more than any other city in the state of California, and the City of Emeryville will receive $913,576 to fund a total of two positions. The grants will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for entry level officer positions over a three year period. Police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant funded positions for a fourth year.
“Community policing is a critical component to public safety and violence prevention in our communities,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “While I am disappointed with the Department of Justice’s decision to cap the amount of funding given to cities through this program, these funds will provide invaluable resources to Oakland and Emeryville and communities across this country to help local law enforcement agencies hire officers to help reduce crime rates.”
Earlier this month, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation would amend the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Act to increase the number of police officers in cities with the highest violent crime rates, including Oakland, California. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
For more information about the grants, or to learn which law enforcement agencies received funding, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.
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