FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1994 (202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888
PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW CRIME BILL GRANTS
TO PUT POLICE OFFICERS ON THE BEAT
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Just a dozen days after money became
available, President Clinton today announced the first round of
police hiring grants under the new crime bill, an important step
toward his goal of putting 100,000 police on America's streets.
More than $200 million in grants were awarded to communities in
all 50 states and Puerto Rico, including 332 police departments,
46 sheriffs' departments, six Indian tribal groups, and several
other law enforcement agencies. The crime bill authorizes money
to increase the number of police in America by twenty percent.
At a White House ceremony today, President Clinton and
Attorney General Janet Reno welcomed mayors and chiefs of police
from many of the jurisdictions receiving grants.
"Today's announcement comes only a month after the crime
bill was signed into law, and less than two weeks after the money
became available at the beginning of the fiscal year," said Reno.
"By wedding new money and existing applications, we were able to
cut red tape and put police on the street more quickly."
The grants announced today will help jurisdictions hire
2,770 new officers. Coupled with previous police hiring grants,
these awards bring the total number of new officers funded under
President Clinton to nearly 4,900 in more than 600 communities
across America. Over the next year, up to 10,000 additional
officers will be funded.
The crime bill's Cops on the Beat program, signed into law
by President Clinton last month, provides $8.8 billion in
competitive grants for state and local law enforcement agencies
to hire community policing officers and to implement community
policing.
Community policing is designed to complement traditional
policing by forging effective, innovative crime prevention
partnerships between law enforcement and the community. "This
money is a down payment on a safer America," said Reno. These
officers will help America's communities, large and small, to
increase their police forces and create problem-solving
partnerships to fight crime," Reno said today.
PHASE I AWARDS
Three hundred and ninety-two jurisdictions, located in all
50 states and Puerto Rico, received awards in this phase. Sixty-
eight awards totaling almost $104 million were made to
jurisdictions with populations of 150,000 or above. These
included $3 million grants to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department and the Honolulu Police, $2.5 million to the Puerto
Rico Police, a $2.1 million grant to the New York City Transit
Authority Police, and awards of $2 million or less to 64 cities
and counties.
Three hundred twenty-four awards totalling more than $96
million were made to jurisdictions with populations of less than
150,000. These included 19 grants to jurisdictions with
populations of 100,000 to 150,000; 62 to jurisdictions of 50,000
to 99,999; 83 to jurisdictions between 25,000 and 49,999; and 84
to jurisdictions of under 25,000 population.
Jurisdictions receiving awards today include:
* the New York City Transit Authority, which will use 28 new
officers to patrol buses in addition to subways;
* Navassa, North Carolina, which will use the grant to start a
police department;
* Whittier, Alaska, population 294, surrounded by glaciers and
accessible only by rail or ship, but prone to significant
seasonal drug and crime problems;
* the Lummi Indian Reservation Nation in Washington, which
will use the grant to assign full-time officers to fight
escalating domestic violence and youth crime; and
* many jurisdictions that will deploy community policing
officers on foot, on bicycles, in schools and in public
housing projects.
GRANT SELECTION PROCESS
The law enforcement agencies funded today demonstrated a
significant public safety and economic need, along with a sound
strategy to explain how hiring additional sworn officers would
develop or expand community policing. These agencies also
outlined how they planned to use additional resources from the
community to support their efforts, as well as how they intended
to continue community policing and retain the new positions after
the grant expires in three years.
The applicants were chosen from the 2,506 not funded under
the Department of Justice's 1993-94 Police Hiring Supplement
program or from the Bureau of Justice Assistance earlier this
year. Although the money was drawn primarily from crime bill
appropriations, the Department used the Supplement program's
selection process to determine who would receive awards.
GRANT FUNDING
In order to make funds available for many jurisdictions,
today's awards include an overall cap on the amount of the award.
The federal share for each officer may not exceed the greater of
75 percent of the total salary and benefits over the three-year
life of the grant, up to a maximum of $75,000; or 50 percent of
the total salary and benefits for the life of the grant. Phase I
recipients may spend grant money only on salaries and benefits.
Provisions were made to reduce or waive the local share
requirement for jurisdictions requesting and documenting
extraordinary economic hardships. Sixteen of today's award
recipients will receive waivers.
FUTURE AWARDS
The crime bill authorizes a total of $8.8 billion for police
hiring grants, approximately $200 million of which was announced
today. An additional $1.1 billion in grants will be announced
over the next twelve months. Applications and program criteria
are expected to be available later this Fall, and every
jurisdiction in the nation will be eligible whether or not they
have applied for or received a grant.
Attached is the complete list of all jurisdictions receiving
grants announced today.
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94-590