City Announces $1.85 Million Federal Grant to Hire 15 Community Policing Officers

FRESNO, CA – Mayor Ashley Swearengin today announced the City of Fresno has been awarded $1,875,000 in grant funding through the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced the award today, which was included in awards to nearly 200 law enforcement agencies across the nation, aimed at creating, and in some cases protecting, 866 law enforcement positions. The money will be used to hire neighborhood police officers and school resource officers for the City of Fresno.

This reimbursement-based grant will allow the Police Department to hire an additional 15 sworn police officers to serve 15 school locations and their surrounding neighborhoods, equaling 30% of the total cost of the combined 15 officers for three years. The remaining 70% will be split between the City of Fresno and Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) as part of a joint agreement to provide police services for High School and Middle School campuses and surrounding neighborhoods.

“This award will help us bolster a crucial piece of our ‘Restore Fresno’ initiative that is already revitalizing our most vulnerable neighborhoods,” said Mayor Swearengin. “It will help our police department increase the efficiency of its community policing efforts and more importantly, provide a more effective response to ensure the safety and security of our homes and our children.”

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer added, “These 15 officers will have an immediate impact in some of our most challenged neighborhoods and school campuses by reducing crime and the fear of crime, while facilitating positive activities for our youth.”

According to the Department of Justice, CHP provides funding directly to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies for the hiring and rehiring of entry-level career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

The entire list of grantees can be found here: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2015AwardDocs/chp/CHP_Award_List.pdf.