Puerto Rico gets $5.3M to beef up law enforcement
Puerto Rico has been assigned $5.3 million to hire more law enforcement professionals and beef up security in five towns, W. Stephen Muldrow, US Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced.
The allocation is included in a global $139 million in grant funding through the US Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.
The following towns received awards under the CHP: Naranjito ($84,446); Sabana Grande ($626,724); San Lorenzo ($1.2 million); Toa Alta ($1.2 million); and Yabucoa ($2.2 million).
“These funds will help law enforcement develop and implement strategies to increase public safety,” said Muldrow.
“In addition to the CHP funds going to five municipalities, the Puerto Rico Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA, in Spanish) received an award of $1,171,200 through the Bureau of Justice Assistance Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program for thePuerto Rico Prescription Drug Monitoring Program,” he said.
“In October, Casa Protegida Julia De Burgos was granted $475,000 for transitional housing, a program from the Office on Violence Against Women. These grants allow recipients to respond to the diverse needs within our district by streamlining access to federal resources for those communities in need,” Muldrow said.
CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing. It provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, to boost their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
