CROWN POINT, Ind.--Four cities in Indiana are getting money from the federal government to hire more police officer. The U.S. Dept. of Justice announced grant money totaling $139 million across the country, to hire more than 1,000 more officers. Indiana cities will get $746,000 of that.
The four Indiana cities to get that money are Muncie, with $375,000; La Paz, with $120,639; and Crown Point and Cedar Lake, each getting $125,000. It was unclear from the DOJ list how many officers each city expects to be able to hire with the money.
None of Indiana’s largest cities will benefit from the grants, though Cincinnati and Chicago are getting money from the same fund for 50 new officer and Cleveland is getting money for 30 new officers.
Indianapolis is using money from the American Rescue Plan to fund the hiring of more officers.
“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The money is meant to help departments fight crime and hire officers that they normally wouldn’t with their regular budgets. It’s also meant to encourage community policing. The DOJ received applications for money from more than 600 departments across the country.
What was not addressed was how communities will continue paying the officers after the DOJ money runs out.
