Philadelphia To Receive $3-Million Federal Grant For Hiring New Police Officers
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder chose Philadelphia to announce the latest nationwide 'COPS' grants.
Philadelphia is one of more than 220 cities and counties on the receiving end of the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS grant.
All told, it will fund over 600 new law enforcement positions, and save an additional 200 positions recently lost or in jeopardy of being cut due to local budget cuts across the country.
Attorney General Holder says it's part of the Obama administration's commitment.
"That our law enforcement partners have the tools, the resources and the capabilities that they need and deserve," Holder explained.
It'll partially fund the salary and benefits of 25 police officers in the city, through a three-year, more than $3-million award. Holder says the three cities that received the greatest number of police officers were Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles.
"They were the ones who had the best plans to figure out how to use these resources in the best ways possible."
Mayor Nutter intends to hire about 400 new officers in the course of the next fiscal year, to keep the city's average compliment of 6,500 officers in the department.
