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Source: Omaha World-Herald
It's not clear when the Omaha Police Department will train the 20 additional officers it's getting with $4 million in federal stimulus money.
What is clear is that city officials are happy to beef up the police force.
“We're very excited to have this money come our way,” Ron Gerard, a spokesman for Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle, said after Tuesday's White House announcement. “Especially now, with what has been going on in town. Crime is still at the top of people's minds.”
Omaha lately has seen an increase in shootings and armed robberies, but the number of homicides so far this year — 14 — is much lower than the 23 that had occurred by this time in 2008.
The $4 million-plus that Omaha is getting is part of $1 billion in grants the Obama administration is awarding to help keep police officers on the beat during the economic downturn. Nebraska departments are receiving more than $5 million of that to fund a total of 27 officers.
The Omaha Police Department is authorized to have 813 officers but has 776 on the payroll. A 42-member recruit class, which has been delayed twice, is scheduled to start in November.
Deputy Police Chief Dave Baker said all 20 additional recruits won't be added to the November class because the academy can handle only about 55 people at a time. So the recruits likely will be divided between the November class and one scheduled for the spring of 2010, he said.
The federal grants, administered by a giant acronym, the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP), will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies from all 50 states.
About 7,000 state and local agencies applied for aid under the COPS program, which is part of the $787 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year. Each state is entitled to at least $5 million in COPS money.
The money allows for the hiring of officers and the rehiring of laid-off officers. It will cover three years of salary and benefits. After three years, law enforcement agencies would have to pick up the personnel costs for at least another year.
“These officers will go to where they are needed most,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said as the grants were announced, adding that distribution was “based on crime rates, financial need and community policing activities.”
Nebraska's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Jon Bruning, said, “Nebraska has some of the best law enforcement in the country. The additional support is important to maintain the quality of life we enjoy in our state.”
Lincoln, Beatrice, Dawson County and the Omaha Tribe also received some of the COPS money announced Tuesday. Beatrice Police Chief Bruce Lang said the money coming to his city means not having to lay off one of his force's 22 officers — a big relief for a community of almost 13,000 people.
“Oh, it's huge,” Lang said. “Everybody's very pleased.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said, “These stimulus funds will add new full-time officers to the streets of Nebraska. Our communities will be safer, and jobs will be saved and created. It's a win-win situation for our state.”
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