The Department of Justice announced $2.2 million in grant funding to law enforcement agencies through the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). Those funds will be distributed to 29 agencies with amounts ranging from $15,090 to $100,000.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has been awarded $92,501 to be used towards the Recruitment, Hiring and Retention project. The FCSO was selected 1 out of 4 nominations in the state of Florida and 1 out of 29 nominations nationally. “We are always trying to bring taxpayer money back to Flagler County through grants,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This grant will allow us to focus on ensuring that we attract, hire and retain a demographically diverse staff to serve and protect the residents and visitors of Flagler County.”
The funds will be distributed in October 2020 and FCSO will utilize them to expand the current manpower staffing study to obtain actionable research evidence to determine immediate and near future personnel needs for FCSO; develop a recruitment and retention plan to attract and retain capable, gifted and diverse employees; and, examine workloads of all areas of services provided and calls answered across all sections of the Agency. Through the efforts of various divisions within the agency and FCSO Grants Specialist Laura Kruger, FCSO has received $636,891.51 in grants this fiscal year.
“The CPD Microgrants Program is a critical resource to advance innovative community policing projects across the country,” COPS Office Director Phil Keith said. “These strategic investments from the COPS Office pay huge dividends to state and local law enforcement agencies and the communities that they serve.” About the CPD Microgrants Program: Microgrants Program funds are used to develop the capacity of local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies to implement community policing strategies.
Applicants were invited to propose demonstration or pilot projects to be implemented in their agency that offer creative ideas to advance crime fighting, community engagement, problem solving, or organizational changes to support community policing in one of the following areas:
• Human Trafficking
• Meeting Rural Law Enforcement Challenges
• Officer Safety and Wellness
• Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention
• School Safety
• Staffing and Allocation Studies
• Victim-Centered Approaches
• Violent Crime
• Youth Engagement
Funding through this program is available for the first time since 2018. These awards are being announced at a critical time for our country, when community policing strategies are very much needed to improve police and community relations. The complete list of awards can be found here. To learn more about CPD Microgrants, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/cpdmicrogrants. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov
