| Washington, D.C.- Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that the city of Flint would receive a $1.25 Million grant for the COPS in Schools Program. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, awarded the grant to the Flint Police Department to help pay for 10 additional police officers in the Flint Community School District. Congressman Kildee worked with the U.S. Department of Justice to help secure funding for this program.
“The Community Oriented Policing Services are committed to protecting our children by ensuring the safety and security of our schools,” said Kildee. “As a result of an increase in school violence, we must provide resources and services to protect our children so that they can learn in a safe environment.”
For over 40 years, the Flint Police Department has been an integral part of the security plan in the Flint School system. This long-standing relationship was recently jeopardized due to budget cuts made by the city of Flint. Since March 2002, twenty police officers have been laid-off as a result of those budget cuts. This generous grant will allow the Flint Police Department and Flint Community Schools to maintain and improve their longstanding, nationally recognized relationship aimed at utilizing community-based enforcement to prevent school violence and implement important educational programs.
The COPS Program has been successful in preventing school violence across the nation. These officers provide an increased sense of security by educating our students about crime prevention and delinquency. In addition, these officers perform a wide variety of functions within a school including teaching crime prevention and substance-abuse classes and monitoring troubled students. By providing guidance and assistance to students, these officers are able to effectively prevent crime. |
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