Mayor Wade Harper announced Monday during a swearing in ceremony that the Antioch Police Department received a federal grant that will allow Antioch to hire five additional police officers.
The Grant will be awarded over a 3-year-period and is for $625,000 which will be distributed through the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
According to Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando, the grant will pay 25% of the cost of an officer and the police department has to match the funds. The grant assists the police department as they plan on hiring more officers of the next 12-months.
“I am very happy we got the grant because it will help us build are staffing levels even higher,” said Cantando. “One of the components in the grant application was we said we were going to give preference to veteran officers. We also have to have one of the hires placed in a challenged area.”
According to Cantando, the plan is to place the officer in the Sycamore Corridor for routine patrol. He also noted that the unit placed in Sycamore will be a two-man unit for safety.
Cantando explained that this is one of several grants they have applied for over the last year but people need to keep in mind there are not a lot of grants available for personnel or equipment. When they are available, the police department applies.
Antioch Police are currently authorized to hire 97-officers through the end of the year and by next year; they are authorized to be at 102-officers. Currently, the Department is staffed with 90-officers.
Here is a Press Release from Congressman Jerry McNerney regarding the grant:
Congressman Jerry McNerney Announces Antioch Police to Receive Hiring Grant
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA-09) announced today that the Antioch, California police department would receive a federal grant to allow the department to hire at least five additional officers.
Rep. McNerney wrote to the Justice Department encouraging officials to consider Antioch for the funding, which will allow the city to continue to deter gang violence and related crimes. The police department will also place an emphasis on hiring veterans with the new money.
“The men and women of Antioch PD are working hard to keep our community safe,” said Rep. McNerney, “and I am glad to support their efforts by helping bring home federal money to let them put more officers on the street.”
The estimated amount of federal funds to be awarded over the three-year grant period is $625,000, which will be distributed though the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
Congressman McNerney is a strong supporter of the COPS program. Over the summer he wrote an amendment that was passed by the House of Representatives allocating additional money to the COPS program for law enforcement agencies to purchase needed technology. He also wrote a bill that would encourage more hiring of veterans as police officers through the COPS program, building on the success Antioch has had hiring former service members.
4 comments
Congratulations! Just a boost our police department needs!
This is great news. I do think we need more officers, however. Perhaps 140 due to the amount of crime we have when compared per capita to other safer cities.
Nevertheless, I am happy these officers are onboard.
Great news. However what happened to the sales tax increase that was to support more hiring of officers?
Great news. But what happens after 3-years? Sycamore goes unguarded again unless there is a shooting? Smoke and mirrors!
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