CSS 2021-06-21 Item 1B - Grant Application - COPS Hiring Program ($192,357 Local Match)

Browse Search

City of Tukwila Allan Ekberg, Mayor INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Community Services & Safety Committee FROM: Eric Dreyer, Chief of Police BY: Jake Berry, Public Safety Finance Analyst CC: Mayor Ekberg DATE: June 21St, 2021 SUBJECT: New Police Grants: Request for Approval/Notification ISSUE Pursuant to City policy, the Police Department is seeking permission to apply for a COPS grant that requires a local match. The Department is also notifying Committee that it has applied for another Federal grant with no matching requirement. BACKGROUND COPS Hiring Program Grant The US Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has announced a competitive grant program with the goal of providing funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire additional career law enforcement officers to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. The program's goal is to further engagement in planned community partnerships, implementation of projects to analyze and assess problems, implementation of changes to personnel and agency management in support of community policing, and to increase capacity of an agency to engage in community policing activities. The COPS grant would provide a maximum of $125,000 over the three-year period with the balance of the officer's salary and benefits to be paid by the Department. The Department must contribute either 25% of the officer's salary and benefits or the amount not covered by the grant's allocation, whichever is greater. With the Committee's approval, and if awarded funding by the DOJ, the Department would use these funds to staff the unbudgeted Community Liaison Officer position with an experienced veteran officer and then hire a new officer to be added to Patrol's ranks. The awarded grant funds would be used to pay the new officer's salary and benefits. The COPS office anticipates awarding 200 of these grants nationwide. With Committee's approval, the Department will submit the application packet on the June 22nd due date. COPS Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Grant The COPS office has opened a competitive grant with the purpose of funding programs that will improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement officers through the implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention, and other promising practices for wellness programs. The LEMHWA grant offers a maximum of $125,000 to each of the 57 grants awarded nationally with no local matching requirement. 35