Feds award Glendale police $500K to hire more officers
Nov 19, 2021, 4:05 AM | Updated: 9:34 am

(Twitter Photo/Glendale Police Department)
(Twitter Photo/Glendale Police Department)
PHOENIX – A federal grant totaling $500,000 will pay for more police officers in Glendale, officials announced Thursday.
The Glendale Police Department will hire four officers, according to the grant list.
The funding is part of $139 million awarded across the country through the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program. Direct funding will go to 183 law enforcement agencies to bring in more than 1,000 officers.
The grant requires that the money be used to hire additional officers, other than those who would normally be hired using a police department’s operating budget.
The grant awards come as police departments across the country have been facing budget reductions, with cities struggling with ballooning costs from the coronavirus pandemic and national calls to reduce police funding in favor of spending more money on social services.
Several police agencies have also delayed or canceled police academy classes, which is likely to leave a number of jobs unfilled as other officers retire.
The Justice Department said it received nearly 600 applications from police departments in nearly every state and U.S. territory.
Glendale and La Paz County, which is getting $250,000 for two officers, are the only Arizona communities receiving the grants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.