2 Arkansas cities to receive justice agency grants for hiring police officers

Two cities in Arkansas will receive over $1.6 million in federal funding from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, an arm of the Department of Justice, for the COPS Hiring Program.

On Thursday, the department announced grants totaling more than $139 million, with the awards providing direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the country, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

In the Eastern District of Arkansas, Helena-West Helena was awarded funding totaling $1,019,756. In the Western District of Arkansas, Hot Springs was awarded funding totaling $625,000.

In a news release from the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the grants reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to providing police departments with needed resources to enhance public safety and build community trust.

“The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs,” Garland said in the release.

Jonathan Ross, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said the grant awarded to the Helena-West Helena Police Department will have a profound impact on the community by providing the resources for the city to hire an additional 10 police officers “to further enhance their community policing efforts and allow for a more proactive approach in the prevention of crime.”

In the Western District of Arkansas, U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes expressed pride in the efforts taken by the Hot Springs Police Department to combat violent crime, which he said is on the rise. The grant will fund five additional police officers, according to the Justice Department.

“This award reflects both their hard work in this area and their deep commitment to help protect our communities,” Fowlkes said.

According to the Justice Department, the COPS Hiring Program is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing by providing funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers. By doing so, the department said, the agencies receiving the funding are able to increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

In the release, the Justice Department said of the 183 agencies named to receive the grants, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis.

Since its creation in 1994, 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 more than 135,000 officers. In 2021, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For 2022, President Joe Biden has requested $537 million in funding for CHP, an increase of $300 million.