Wildwood Police Receive Federal COPS Funding

PRESS RELEASE FROM GOVERNOR’S OFFICE:
PHILADELPHIA — The Wildwood Police Department was one of 18 municipal law enforcement agencies throughout the state to receive federal funding, according to a release from the Governor’s office.
According to Wildwood Police Chief Steven Long, the $819,120 grant will allow the department to hire three new officers and pay their salaries and benefits for the next three years.
“These are new hires we wouldn’t be able to make with the city’s current budgetary difficulties,” Long told the Herald. “We’re very glad to receive the funding.”
Governor Jon S. Corzine welcomed the announcement July 28 by Vice President Joe Biden and U.S.Attorney General Eric Holder that the 18 New Jersey police departments will receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding totaling approximately $26.8 million to hire a total of 123 police officers through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
“In New Jersey, just as in Washington, we remain hard at work building a bridge to our economic recovery. We have set priorities that include maintaining a safe and healthy living environment for our citizens,” Corzine said.
“Through the COPS funding announced today, towns and cities throughout New Jersey and throughout America will now have the resources to keep their police departments better staffed, better equipped, and better prepared for any challenge that might come their way.”
COPS, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, was created through the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. With a mission to advance the practice of community policing as an effective strategy to improve public safety, the COPS has spent $12.4 billion to help law enforcement advance the practice of community policing since 1995. This has enabled more than 13,000 state, local, and tribal agencies throughout the United States to hire more than 117,000 police officers and deputies.
“These funds will put more officers on the street in Trenton, Irvington, Paterson, Elizabeth, East Orange, Union and other municipalities across New Jersey,” said Attorney General Anne Milgram. “Under Governor Corzine’s Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Plan, we have worked with local police to achieve unprecedented results in reducing the drug dealing and gang violence plaguing our communities. These additional officers will bolster those efforts.”
From January 2006 through the end of last year, homicides in New Jersey have dropped 12 percent. Violent crime overall has dropped 7.4 percent.
In addition to today’s announced funding, law enforcement agencies in New Jersey previously have been awarded $355,813,127 in COPS grants, which has funded 4,794 additional law enforcement officers. This funding has directly benefited 469 local and state law enforcement agencies in New Jersey. Approximately $40 million in COPS funding has been awarded to add 322 school resources officers to improve safety for students, teachers, and administrators in primary and secondary schools throughout the State. The COPS program has also awarded an additional $53,717,735 to State and local law enforcement entities for crime-fighting technologies.
“As my fellow governors can readily attest, throughout the nation we have been waging a battle against violent crime. In New Jersey, with a helping hand through the federal COPS Program, we are collectively making a difference,” Governor Corzine said. “These recovery act dollars will further help us keep our communities safe, providing working families with the peace of mind that their children are safe playing in their backyard.”