September 29, 2014

Manchin and Rockefeller Announce More Than $569,000 to Support Law Enforcement Jobs in WV

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller today announced a total of $569,569 for West Virginia law enforcement agencies through the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program (CHP) to create and preserve law enforcement jobs. The funding will support the hiring or rehiring of law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacities and crime prevention efforts.
 
“It is critical that our law enforcement agencies in West Virginia have the necessary resources to keep our communities safe, and that begins with having a sufficient force,” Senator Manchin said. “We are so grateful for the sacrifices our law enforcement community makes every day to protect our families, and I am pleased that these funds will directly support the jobs of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to serve West Virginia.”

“Creating and preserving jobs for police officers is good news for communities throughout West Virginia,” Senator Rockefeller said. “I am a longtime supporter of the COPS program because West Virginia families deserve to live in safe neighborhoods and these grants go far toward achieving that goal. I am pleased to see that the cities of Dunbar, Fairmont, Spencer, and Vienna are receiving this funding.”

The individual awards are:

The City of Fairmont—$250,000
The City of Vienna—$125,000
The Dunbar Police Department—$121,905
The City of Spencer—$72,664 

The FY2014 CHP grants will provide75 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired, full-time positions or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date. Priority was given to agencies that requested support to hire school resource officers, build trust between the police force and its community, hire military veterans, focus on homicide or gun violence, designate an area as a Promise Zone to enhance economic development, or assist an area that experienced an unanticipated catastrophic event.

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