Winslow is one of five departments in the state to get a grant from the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services that will create a position in the department.
The town will get $125,000, part of $625,000 that’s going to the state. More than $107 million will be awarded nationally through the COPS Hiring Program. Also getting grants are the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department, Fort Kent, Norway and Old Town.
“The COPS Office is pleased to assist local law enforcement agencies throughout the country in addressing their most critical public safety issues,” said Ronald L. Davis, director of the COPS Office, in a press release from the agency. “These grants are not simply about putting more officers on the street; they are about expanding the capacity of law enforcement agencies to engage in community policing.”
CHP provides grants to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire community policing officers. The program provides salaries and benefits for officer and deputy hires for three years.
Priority consideration was given this year to agencies that selected any of the Building Trust focus areas or School Based Policing through School Resource Officers, according to the release. All applicants were encouraged to refer to the report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing for suggested actions to incorporate into their proposed community policing strategy.
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide under the U.S. Department of Justice.
Since 1995, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of approximately 127,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance, according to the release.
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