SANTA ANA, CA (September 30, 2014) - The City of Santa Ana was awarded with over $1.2 Million for the hiring of ten additional police officers by the federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program. The award represents the largest allocation in Southern California and will be used to meet the City’s public safety hiring goals.
“This is great news for the City of Santa Ana,” said Mayor Miguel Pulido. “Public safety is the community’s number one priority and with our new strengthened financial position we will be able to take advantage of this grant and hire much needed police officers. Having recently gone on a ride along with our officers I know first-hand how this funding will make an impact."
The City of Santa Ana has been very successful in receiving state and federal funding in recent years to assist in the success of the police department. Grants have helped fund training for officers, police equipment, technology improvements and traffic safety programs. Notably, the City of Santa Ana has seen the overall crime decrease by 8.24% over the last year thanks to the leadership of the City Council and the commitment of its police force.
The COPS Hiring Program, a federal cost sharing grant, will be used to staff patrol and field operations positions throughout the City.
“This is a great partnership that allows the City to hire additional police officers through cost sharing with the federal government and illustrates the City’s commitment to sustained public safety and financial responsibility,” said Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chair David Benavides.
Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas added, “this grant funding allocation bolsters the Santa Ana Police Department’s ongoing efforts to attract and recruit the most highly qualified individuals in Southern California and enables us to continue to provide professional police services to the City of Santa Ana.”
The City of Santa Ana is actively recruiting police officers. For more information, please visit www.santa-ana.org.
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