The Town of Middletown has been awarded $250,000 in COPS Hiring Program (CHP) funds from the U.S. Department of Justice to add two new police officers.
The COPS grant program provides federal funds to state and local law enforcement agencies to help pay for hiring and retaining officers or for new equipment and initiatives to disrupt the trafficking of deadly drugs.
“This federal investment will help put more cops on the beat to reduce crime, enhance public safety, and combat the spread of deadly drugs that are poisoning communities,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed. “It also invests in advancing the community policing model, which helps law enforcement build robust partnerships with the people they serve and protect, and invests in police training, safety, and well-being. It helps ensure police officers have the resources they need to prevent violence in our communities. Our police officers do an outstanding job and it’s important that the federal government be a reliable partner when it comes to ensuring local police departments have the right tools and staffing levels.”
“This funding from the COPS program will help increase recruiting efforts to prevent crime, keep Rhode Islanders safe, and get opioids and other drugs off the streets,” said Congressman Seth Magaziner.
“To advance a model of community policing — one where local law enforcement and the community forge mutual trust — we need trusted individuals serving our communities to ensure our staffing needs are met,” said Congressman Gabe Amo. “These federal grants through the Department of Justice will help our state achieve this goal. I appreciate Director Hugh Clements for all his help to ensure we are improving public safety in Rhode Island.”
The CHP grants provide critical funding to support entry-level career law enforcement officers in an effort to preserve jobs while increasing community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. CHP grants provide 75 percent federal 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.
Created in 1994, the COPS program has advanced community-oriented policing nationwide, providing over 13,000 grants to state and local law enforcement agencies. The COPS Office at DOJ is overseen by Director Hugh T. Clements, Jr., who was appointed to the post by President Biden last year after serving for 40 years as a member of the Providence Police Department.
The funding comes from the COPS grants program, which was established in 1994 and is designed to support community-oriented policing.
The grants being awarded to Middletown, North Smithfield, Scituate, Tiverton and Providence police departments are to be used for hiring and retention of officers, as well as for new equipment and initiatives aimed at disrupting the trafficking of deadly drugs.
“This federal investment will help put more cops on the beat to reduce crime, enhance public safety, and combat the spread of deadly drugs that are poisoning communities,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed. “It also invests in advancing the community policing model, which helps law enforcement build robust partnerships with the people they serve and protect, and invests in police training, safety, and well-being. It helps ensure police officers have the resources they need to prevent violence in our communities. Our police officers do an outstanding job and it’s important that the federal government be a reliable partner when it comes to ensuring local police departments have the right tools and staffing levels.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
