Cole Encourages Law Enforcement Agencies to Apply for Job-Creating Grants

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) gave the following statement in an effort to encourage state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to apply for federal grants through the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). The grant application period closes April 14th.

"Like many organizations across the country, law enforcement agencies are not immune to the current economic downturn," Congressman Cole said. "Too many communities have been forced to cut back on the size of their police force. But Oklahomans stand to benefit from these job-creating and job-saving federal grants. The funds will help put police officers in uniform and get them back to doing what they do best - patrolling, policing and protecting. I hope that law enforcement agencies in the Fourth District will take advantage of this opportunity and apply for these grants."

CHRP is a competitive grant program that makes funds available to law enforcement agencies across the country. The grant is intended to help create and save jobs in the law enforcement field and help agencies increase their policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts. More specifically, CHRP grants will provide 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for 36 months for full-time, newly-hired officers or rehired officers who have been laid off or were scheduled to be laid off due to budget restraints. There is no cap on the number of positions an agency can request, but awards are limited to funding availability. At the conclusion of the federal funding period, grantees must retain officer positions awarded under the CHRP grant.

The deadline to submit applications for CHRP is April 14th, 2009. Interested applicants can find more information and application materials at www.cops.usdoj.gov or call the COPS Office Response Center at 1-800-421-6770.

###