WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Bob Casey today announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded $3,707,925 to the City of Pittsburgh to hire 25 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 Pittsburgh safe by putting more officers on the streets.”
“I am excited and honored that out of 4,600 law enforcement agencies that applied for this grant, the City of Pittsburgh was one of the chosen few to receive funding,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. “Thanks to Senator Casey’s commitment to public safety, we can continue to drive down crime to historic lows.”
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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