RI Receives $625,000 in COPS Hiring Grants

Press Release

U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that two Rhode Island law enforcement agencies are receiving a total of $625,000 to add five more police officers to patrols this year. The Warwick Police Department will receive $500,000 to hire four officers and the Woonsocket Police Department will receive $125,000 to hire one officer.

Administered by the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office, these COPS Hiring Program (CHP) grants will help put more police officers on the streets, reduce crime, and help both cities fill budget gaps.

"As a long-time supporter of the COPS program, I am pleased that Warwick and Woonsocket are receiving this federal funding to help put more cops on the beat. Our police officers do an outstanding job and these funds will give local police departments critical resources to continue their important work," said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who helped create the COPS program in the 1990s and serves on the Appropriations subcommittee which oversees COPS funding.

"This funding is an important investment in public safety in Warwick and Woonsocket," said Whitehouse. "I congratulate both police departments on receiving these grants, and I thank them for their continued service to our community."

"Municipal budgets have been stretched thin, but reducing violence and keeping Rhode Islanders safe has been and must continue to be a top priority. This COPS funding comes at a critical time and will allow these police departments to hire additional staff and further improve public safety services in their communities," said Congressman Jim Langevin.

"Police officers dedicate their lives to making our communities safer places to live and work, and we have a responsibility to support local law enforcement with their critical efforts," said Congressman David Cicilline. "I'm pleased these police departments have been awarded federal funding to hire qualified men and women to protect our neighborhoods and reduce crime."

This year's CHP grants provide 75 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts.

$123 million in CHP grants were awarded to 215 different local law enforcement agencies across the country. Grantees for the 2014 hiring program were selected based on their fiscal needs, local crime rates, and their community policing plans.