U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will provide a total of $19,697,636 in federal stimulus funds to 14 law enforcement agencies in Missouri through the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP).

CHRP provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHRP grants go directly to hire or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. The funds for Missouri are being provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

According to the DOJ, the CHRP grants will support 118 law enforcement positions in Missouri. The money will cover 100 percent funding for entry-level salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired, full-time sworn law enforcement officers or rehired officers who have been or are schedule to be laid off as a result of local budget cuts.

The CHRP funds were awarded to the following applicants in Missouri:

 

Funding to states and localities through the economic recovery package will be allocated through existing federal programs like these, rather than earmarks, in order to ensure prompt distribution and better accountability. Local projects receive funds from these grants by following the process set up by each program. During Congressional consideration of the economic recovery bill, McCaskill worked to put additional accountability measures in place.

 

McCaskill believes that federal grants and loans are a positive alternative to earmarks, which in the past have frequently had too little accountability. Competitive merit and need based federal grants and low-interest government loans bring federal assistance to Missouri in an honest and fiscally responsible manner.