SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE OVER $1.8 MILLION OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT FUNDING COMING TO MOUNT VERNON DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO HIRE OR REHIRE 10 POLICE OFFICERS; FUNDS WILL ENSURE SAFER STREETS
Funding Will Help Beef Up Local Law Enforcement Agencies
With Recession Hurting Town and City Budgets Across Westchester County, COPS Program Will Keep More Cops on the Beat and Enhance Safety Across the Region
Schumer: We Must Ensure That Police Have Resources Necessary to Keep Our Communities Safe
U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that $1,887,770 in Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants will be awarded to the Mt. Vernon Department of Public Safety. The funding, coming through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will support the hiring or rehiring of up to ten police officers to ensure that the agencies have adequate staff through the economic downturn.
"Keeping cops on the beat is one of the best impacts of the Economic Recovery Act. These federal dollars are absolutely essential to budgetstressed local law enforcement in places like Mount Vernon," said Schumer. "In these tough economic times, where budgets are being stretched to the limit, these funds will save our law enforcement agencies from taking the dangerous step of eliminating officers from their ranks. I have worked continuously for stimulus funding to keep cops on the streets, and will continue to fight for more resources to keep our communities safe."
"Law enforcement agencies in New York have been squeezed by budget cuts, forced to lay off critical personnel, and reduce key crime prevention programs," said Senator Gillibrand. "These COPS grants will make our streets safe, neighborhoods secure, and create new jobs in law enforcement. Protecting our families and communities is the highest priority of our law enforcement professionals, and protecting jobs for New York is my highest priority."
The funding is being allocated as part of the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP), which will award a total of $1 billion in ARRA funding to 1,046 law enforcement agencies nationwide to either create or preserve officer positions. CHRP funding will ensure that state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies have the necessary resources to maintain their community policing capacity at a time when city and town budgets have threatened forces with painful cuts. CHRP grants fully fund entrylevel salaries and benefits for three years for newlyhired, fulltime sworn officers, and can fund officers recently laid off or scheduled to be laid off due to local budget cuts.
