Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $520,400 for the Gloversville Police Department through the Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) Hiring Program at the U.S. Department of Justice– an effort to bolster law enforcement agencies nationwide. This federal funding will help address the law enforcement needs of the city of Gloversville by preserving current law enforcement jobs, providing salaries to re-hire officers who had been laid-off, and enabling additional full-time sworn officers to be hired.
“Law enforcement agencies in New York have been squeezed by budget cuts, forced to lay off critical personnel, and reduce key crime prevention programs,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This COPS grant will make our streets safe, neighborhoods secure, and create new jobs in law enforcement. Protecting our families and communities is the highest priority of our law enforcement professionals, and protecting jobs for New York is my highest priority.”
“We are very excited to be 1 of only 2 cities in NY state to receive this grant” said Gloversville Mayor Dayton J. King. “This will bridge the funding gap while we restructure and prepare our City to expand our Police Force further in the future.”
In an effort to address the needs of law enforcement agencies across the nation, The Department of Justice implemented the COPS Hiring Program, a competitive grant program that was open to over 6,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. Gloversville Police Department was one of 379 recipients for this year’s grant program.
Senator Gillibrand has fought for increased funding for the COPS program. She supported the President’s budget includes a $302 million increase for the Grant Programs. In 2009, New York police departments received more than $19.9 million in COPS hiring recovery program grants.
Senator Gillibrand is a cosponsor of the COPS Improvements Act which would authorize $1.15 billion per year through 2014 for community policing.