Fort Wayne, Lafayette Police Benefit From Grants

(Image courtesy of the Fort Wayne Police Department.)

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Police departments in Fort Wayne and Lafayette have been awarded grants to cover the cost of hiring additional officers through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The Indiana communities are among 179 throughout the country to receive funding from the $98.5 million COPS Hiring Program.

In all, agencies plan to fund more than 800 additional law enforcement officer jobs. The Fort Wayne Police Department has received $875,000 to add seven officers and the Lafayette Police Department plans to add four positions as a result of a $500,000 grant. In addition to hiring, the funds also pay to help address specific crime issues through community policing strategies.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says "today, the Justice Department announced that 80 percent of this year’s COPS Hiring Program grantees have agreed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in their detention facilities. I applaud their commitment to the rule of law and to ending violent crime, including violent crime stemming from illegal immigration. I continue to encourage every jurisdiction in America to collaborate with federal law enforcement and help us make this country safer."

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana Thomas Kirsch says "we are pleased that the Northern Indiana Police Departments of Fort Wayne and Lafayette received funding to hire more officers. We have always and will continue to focus on cooperation between federal, state and local law enforcement in our fight against crime."

You can connect to more about the grants by clicking here.