R.I. municipalities get federal aid to hire police 01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 15, 2010 PROVIDENCE — Four Rhode Island municipalities and the Narragansett Indian Tribe will be hiring 26 new police officers, thanks to a $6.5-million grant from the federal government. The funds are part of the economic stimulus plan. The money will pay for three years of salary and benefits for 13 officers in ...

On July 28, Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Department of Justice COPS Office has awarded $1 billion in Recovery Act funding through its COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) to state, local and tribal law enforcement to create and/or preserve nearly 5,000 law enforcement positions. See all the winners here: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2208 One interesting note: Oakland, C...

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Twenty-six police agencies in 16 states are barred from receiving shares of $1 billion in federal stimulus money to hire more officers after misusing millions of dollars in prior aid, Justice Department documents show. The Amtrak Police Department and agencies in two New Jersey cities, Newark and Camden, are among the largest departments barred from getting new aid for ...

By JIM ABRAMS WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has approved federal funds to help local police departments hire and retain 50,000 officers over the next five years. The House vote was an endorsement for the Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant program, which struggled to survive under the Bush administration. COPS was created in 1994 by the Clinton administration, which saw it as a v...

By Gregory Smith Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — For nearly a year, city officials have been planning the 66th police training academy, intent on keeping up the size of the police force as the crime rate increased. But the city’s fiscal crisis has overwhelmed that plan, and the academy has been put off indefinitely. Police Chief Dean M. Esserman is now jumping into President Obama’s $4-bi...