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July 28, 2009 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that Nebraska will receive over $5.1 million to fund 27 new full-time police officers in communities across the state. The funding is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“These stimulus funds will add new full-time officers to the streets of Nebraska,” said Nelson. “Our communities will be safer and jobs will be saved and created. It’s a win-win situation for our state.”
Five communities in Nebraska will receive funding: Beatrice Police Department will receive $158,607 to support one officer; the City of Omaha will receive $4,013,500 to support 20 officers; Dawson County Law Enforcement Center will receive $103,654 to support one officer; Lincoln Police Department will receive $679,136 to support 4 officers; and the Omaha Tribe Police Department will receive $170,381 to support one officer. The funding for Nebraska totals $5,125,278 for 27 officers.
The funding is being is being provided through USDOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS), COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). CHRP provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHRP grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort and to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
According to USDOJ, CHRP grants will provide 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts.
Senator Nelson played a key role in the passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill. He worked with a bipartisan group of nearly 20 Senators to better focus The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on tax cuts for the middle class and job creation for millions of Americans. Senator Nelson led the group through the initial bill line by line, dollar by dollar, to reduce spending and cut out $108 billion of inefficient or less-stimulative spending. The bipartisan group helped the improved bill win congressional approval. President Obama signed it into law February 17, 2009.
Senator Nelson is posting information about the release of stimulus finds on his website as it becomes available. Visit http://bennelson.senate.gov/feature_4.cfm for more information.
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