Feds Fund 50 more Police Officers for Jacksonville.

[stephendare]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. July 28, 2009 â€" Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and Sheriff John Rutherford today announced that the CitJACKSONVILLE, Fla. July 28, 2009 â€" Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and Sheriff John Rutherford today announced that the City of Jacksonville has been awarded a $9.2 million federal COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to hire 50 police officers.

The hiring of these officers will take place over the course of two years, with the first 40 to be hired in fiscal year 2010 and the remainder to be hired in fiscal year 2011.

“Through The Jacksonville Journey and outstanding collaboration on many fronts, we developed a strategy to combat the violence plaguing this community.  Given these challenging economic times, the opportunity to build the capacity of our law enforcement and take another monumental step toward building a safer community is even more valuable,” said Mayor Peyton.  “This would not be possible without the traction gained by Sheriff Rutherford through the Operation Safe Streets initiative.  And I am grateful for the outstanding support of our Duval delegation â€" U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw, and Cliff Stearns and U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson â€" for their role in helping to secure this funding. It would not have been possible without their dedication to helping Jacksonville secure these funds.”

“We are on track to report to the state a 13.8 percent reduction in violent crime for the first half of the year, and a 14.3 percent reduction in murder. This is unprecedented in recent memory. I will tell you it would not have been possible without the additional staffing that allowed us to ramp up our community policing programs like Operation Safe Streets and Intelligence Led Policing. They work because of these additional boots on the street. And those additional ‘boots’ would not have been possible without the support of our Mayor and City Council,” said Sheriff Rutherford.

The grant will support 100 percent of the salary and benefits of these officers for three years.  The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will then retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year.

In his proposed 2010 budget, Mayor John Peyton has recommended funding for the cost of the 40 officers not covered by the grant. This would include police cars, uniforms and other equipment necessary for duty. While the full cost of these items will not be incurred next fiscal year, the total cost for items not covered by the grant will be less than $3 million.

Increasing law enforcement manpower and bolstering community policing was a key recommendation of The Jacksonville Journey.  The most comprehensive public safety program in the city’s history, The Jacksonville Journey focuses on three areas key to improving public safety in Jacksonville: prevention, intervention and enforcement.

Background from the U.S. Department of Justice:

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder announced today $1 billion in grants to fund the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers across the country under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The grants will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies from all 50 states and will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for 4,699 officers for three years.  Police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year.

The Recovery Act grants, which will be administered by the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the federal agency’s COPS Hiring Recovery Program, provide much needed financial support to state, local and tribal governments, and will help the nation’s law enforcement agencies add and retain the manpower needed to fight crime more effectively through community policing.  The Department of Justice received over 7,200 applications for more than 39,000 officer positions, representing a total of $8.3 billion in requested funding.

For more information about the COPS grants or to learn which law enforcement agencies received funding, visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.y of Jacksonville has been awarded a $9.2 million federal COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to hire 50 police officers.

The hiring of these officers will take place over the course of two years, with the first 40 to be hired in fiscal year 2010 and the remainder to be hired in fiscal year 2011.

“Through The Jacksonville Journey and outstanding collaboration on many fronts, we developed a strategy to combat the violence plaguing this community.  Given these challenging economic times, the opportunity to build the capacity of our law enforcement and take another monumental step toward building a safer community is even more valuable,” said Mayor Peyton.  “This would not be possible without the traction gained by Sheriff Rutherford through the Operation Safe Streets initiative.  And I am grateful for the outstanding support of our Duval delegation â€" U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw, and Cliff Stearns and U.S. Sens. Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson â€" for their role in helping to secure this funding. It would not have been possible without their dedication to helping Jacksonville secure these funds.”

“We are on track to report to the state a 15 percent reduction in violent crime for the first half of the year, and a 17.65 percent reduction in murder. This is unprecedented in recent memory. I will tell you it would not have been possible without the additional staffing that allowed us to ramp up our community policing programs like Operation Safe Streets and Intelligence Led Policing. They work because of these additional boots on the street. And those additional ‘boots’ would not have been possible without the support of our Mayor and City Council,” said Sheriff Rutherford.

The grant will support 100 percent of the salary and benefits of these officers for three years.  The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will then retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year.

In his proposed 2010 budget, Mayor John Peyton has recommended funding for the cost of the 40 officers not covered by the grant. This would include police cars, uniforms and other equipment necessary for duty. While the full cost of these items will not be incurred next fiscal year, the total cost for items not covered by the grant will be less than $3 million.

Increasing law enforcement manpower and bolstering community policing was a key recommendation of The Jacksonville Journey.  The most comprehensive public safety program in the city’s history, The Jacksonville Journey focuses on three areas key to improving public safety in Jacksonville: prevention, intervention and enforcement.

Background from the U.S. Department of Justice:

Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder announced today $1 billion in grants to fund the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers across the country under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The grants will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies from all 50 states and will provide 100 percent of the approved salary and benefits for 4,699 officers for three years.  Police departments receiving the grants will then be required to retain the grant-funded positions for a fourth year.

The Recovery Act grants, which will be administered by the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) through the federal agency’s COPS Hiring Recovery Program, provide much needed financial support to state, local and tribal governments, and will help the nation’s law enforcement agencies add and retain the manpower needed to fight crime more effectively through community policing.  The Department of Justice received over 7,200 applications for more than 39,000 officer positions, representing a total of $8.3 billion in requested funding.

For more information about the COPS grants or to learn which law enforcement agencies received funding, visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.

[NotNow]

Although I am certainly happy to see the help, I am personally against the federal government getting involved in local law enforcement.  There is no Constitutional authority for the USG to play lottery with our tax dollars.  Even in areas which I believe are chronically underfunded, such as education and mental health, these are clearly State or local issues and NOT the business of the federal government.  End Constitutional rant.

I don't blame our city government for asking for the dollars.  If the USG is throwing dollars out like the trash, we should protect our citizens interest as much as possible.

[whitey]

$9.2 million sure doesn't go as far as it used to

[BridgeTroll]

Wow.  I guess Obama and the Dems really came through for Notnow and the City of Jacksonville.

I agree!  If the Feds are going to spend money they dont have this is the way to spend it.

[civil42806]

What happens after the fed grant runs out.  Does the COJ get stuck with 50 officers with no funding and a pension we cant afford?