WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Bob Casey today announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $2,238,400 to the Allentown Police Department to hire ten new police officers. The funding is available through DOJ’s COPS Office.
“I’m pleased to see COPS funding being used to promote public safety in the Commonwealth,” said Senator Casey. “The funding announced today will help keep Allentown safe by putting more officers on the streets.”
“This is significant for us as a city. It helps us increase our police complement, clean up our streets, and rebuild our neighborhoods,” said Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski. “I want to thank the Senator and the President for supporting this funding. It will help Allentown move forward for years to come.”
Senator Casey has been an advocate for increased COPS funding in Pennsylvania and has written to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to consider additional resources for Pennsylvania law enforcement.
The funding is available through DOJ’s COPS Hiring Program (CHP). CHP provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHP grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new and/or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
CHP also provides 100 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.
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