LARSON ANNOUNCES $100,000 IN FEDERAL "COPS" HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING FOR EAST HARTFORD POLICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 25, 2003LARSON ANNOUNCES $100,000 IN FEDERAL "COPS" HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING FOR EAST HARTFORD POLICE
EAST HARTFORD- U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) today announced that the East Hartford Police department has been awarded a $100,000 federal grant to fund an increase in the department's overtime budget due to expanded homeland security patrols and services. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) awarded the funding under the Homeland Security Overtime program."This grant program provides much needed financial assistance to cities and towns at a time when municipal budgets are being stretched thin and demands on our first responders are increasing," said Larson. "I am thrilled that East Hartford has been awarded this grant to address the ongoing needs of the department and the community."
The Department of Justice's COPS program today awarded a total $59.5 million to 294 law enforcement agencies in 50 states resulting from increased overtime budgets due to increased patrols and services related to homeland security.
The grants will supplement locally funded office overtime budgets for one year, and will cover up to 75 percent of the total projected overtimes costs for homeland security training, increased homeland security patrols, and other activities related to the prevention of violent or drug related crime. A 25 percent local funding match is required.
The Homeland Security Overtime Program is a new grants program that was created in response to the threat of terrorism, recognizing the critical role that state and local law enforcement agencies play in preventing and responding to terrorism.
Since 1995, COPS has provided more than 6.9 billion to nearly 13,000 state and local law enforcement agencies to hire over 118,000 officers as well as provided community policing training and resources.
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