BOSTON, MA – Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry announced today that thirteen police departments in Massachusetts will receive a total of $28,984,695 in federal funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds will be administered by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of Justice, under the agency’s COPS Hiring Recovery Program, and will be used to provide one hundred percent of the approved salary and benefits for entry-level officer positions over a three-year period, or for rehired officers who have been laid off or officers scheduled to be laid off at a future date because of local budget cuts. The funds provide much-needed support to state and local government budgets and will help law enforcement agencies add and retain the manpower needed to fight crime more effectively through community policing.
Senator Kennedy said, “These COPS funds are vital. Police departments across our Commonwealth must have the resources needed to have enough officers on the streets to keep our citizens and our communities safe.”
“When I was a prosecutor, I learned firsthand the difference a beefed-up police presence makes on the streets. It means safer communities, lower crime rates and at the same time an infusion of jobs into the economy,” said Senator Kerry.
In 1993 Kennedy and Kerry led the fight to add police on our streets through their amendment to the Crime Control bill, which provided for $150 million to hire 100,000 new police officers- a measure widely regarded as having helped to lower the crime rate across the country. Since then they have continued to be strong supporters of the COPS program.
For more information on other Department of Justice initiatives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/recovery.
The recipients of the COPS grants, the number of officers affected, and the award amounts are as follows:
Boston Police Department, 50 officers, $11,843,200
