Funding for Law Enforcement Hiring: 596 Agencies, $400M, Oklahoma 2023

The U.S. Attorney General announced nearly $400 million in grant funding through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards will allow 596 law enforcement agencies across the nation to hire 2,732 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

Of those agencies, several in the Northern District of Oklahoma have received funding. The Bixby Police Department will receive $125,000, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation will receive $543,496, the Owasso Police Department will receive $750,000, and the Rogers County Sheriff’s Department will receive $250,000.

Attorney General William P. Barr praised the funding, saying, ‘The Department of Justice is committed to providing the police chiefs and sheriffs of our great nation with needed resources, tools, and support. The funding announced today will bolster their ranks and contribute to expanding community policing efforts nationwide.’

U.S. Attorney Trent Shores added, ‘Public safety is a priority in northeastern Oklahoma, and community oriented policing is a proven approach to foster safer neighborhoods.’

The COPS Hiring Program is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing by providing direct funding for the hiring of career law enforcement officers.

The program provides funding to state, local, and tribal law enforcement to enhance local community policing strategies and tactics. Funding through this program had been on hold since the spring of 2018 due to a nationwide injunction that was lifted earlier this year.

Applicants were required to identify a specific crime and disorder problem focus area and explain how the funding will be used to implement community policing approaches to that problem focus area. 43 percent of the awards announced today will focus on violent crime, while the remainder of the awards will focus on a variety of issues including school-based policing to fund school resource officer positions, building trust and respect, and opioid education, prevention, and intervention.

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