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WPD seeking COPS grants to fund positions

Date: 3/30/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



WILBRAHAM -- Thanks to funds that will be provided by the federal stimulus package, the Wilbraham Police Department may be able to keep community policing programs going in the school system.

Police Chief Allen Stratton told the Board of Selectmen at their March 23 meeting that the Department of Justice recently announced that federal grant money will be set aside for COPS grants, which have been awarded in Wilbraham for more than a decade.

COPS grants provide funding to for community policing. According to the COPS Web site, "Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime." The grants have been used in Wilbraham to fund the School Resource Officer (SRO) position and the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Officer.

"This is another opportunity designed to assist municipalities with budget cuts that impact police departments," Stratton explained.

The grants that Wilbraham would be vying for would cover three years of an officer's salary and benefits, provided that officer's position be maintained with town funding for a fourth year. Stratton recommended that the town pursue this grant.

"It's a good opportunity to keep the police force that is at a level recommended by the staffing study," Town Administrator Robert Weitz said. "The idea is that in four years, the budget scenario will be different. This grant would allow us to bridge from now to then with very minimal cost to the town."

The Public Safety Staffing Study Weitz referred to is the study conducted by Matrix Consulting Group which was released in 2008. The study found that the Wilbraham Police Department would function best with 29 officers; budget cuts and retirements have reduced the amount of officers for fiscal year 2010 (FY10) to 27.

"I want to see the police department at full complement, but I don't want to have 29 [officers] and put the budget in jeopardy," Selectman David Barry said. "I support submitting the [grant] application."

Selectman James Thompson asked what would happen to the SRO and D.A.R.E. officer positions if the grants are not awarded to Wilbraham.

"We would have to look at how we would best serve the schools with safety and education," Stratton replied. He suggested that if the grants are not awarded, the two positions might be combined into one or 1.5.

Stratton has until April 14 to submit the COPS grant application.

"This is a very unique opportunity," Stratton said. "We haven't had a full-time funding opportunity since 2000."

The police chief is optimistic about being awarded one of these competitive grants.

"We have been deemed in need of grants in the past," he noted. "We have had five positions funded [by these grants] over the past 12 years."