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Springfield Police Department receives $1M hiring grant

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The city of Springfield announced yesterday it was selected by the U.S. Department of Justice to receive a $1 million grant to hire 10 additional police officers the next three years under the 2014 Cops Hiring Program.

To receive the funds, the city must make a local match of 25 percent over the three-year grant period, and the city would assume 100 percent of the ongoing costs for the additional officers after that, according to a news release.

The Springfield Police Department is currently recruiting and testing for vacancies, according to the release. An academy for the grant-funded officers is now slated to take place in June, which would put new officers on the street by March 2016.

The grant is contingent upon formal City Council approval, and an ordinance is expected to be drafted and presented at council’s Oct. 13 meeting.

The announcement follows a couple recent protests at City Hall in recent months by the Springfield Police Officers Association. Members of the group called for the hiring of additional officers as council members reviewed the city's fiscal 2015 budget plans in late May. In addition, around 20 protesters from the organization were calling for more cops on the steps of City Hall just prior to the Sept. 22 meeting.

Before the budget was finalized in June, Councilman Jeff Seifried said a series of budget meetings would be held over the next couple months to try to identify ways to hire additional police officers. At the June 23 meeting, council voted to approve a 1 percent pay raise for all city employees, but its $311 million fiscal 2015 budget did not include room for additions to its police staff.

On the SPOA Facebook page this morning, the grant news was welcomed but with the reminder that more should be done.

“This is great news. As of last week, we had 47 holes to fill. Every bit helps,” a message with a link to the city’s release read.[[In-content Ad]]

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