The Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program has allocated$664,673 in federal funds for New Hampshire.
According to a statement from U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the lead Democrat of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01), the first award is $489,674 to the NH Department of Safety for the state’s Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF), and the second award is $174,999 to Dartmouth College for a COPS Hiring Program (CHP) Performance Measurement Study.
COPS AHTF grants are highly competitive, yet this is the second time that New Hampshire has received funding through this program. CHP grants support state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies’ ability to hire, preserve and/or rehire law enforcement officers and to increase community policing efforts.
Colonel Chris Wagner, Director of the NH State Police, says the federal grant funding will ensure continued collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement and drive cross-border initiatives to disrupt drug trafficking organizations who continue to fuel the opioid and substance use epidemic in the granite state.
Last week, Senators Shaheen and Hassan’s bipartisan resolution to designate the first week in October National Community Policing Week passed the Senate.
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