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Grant enables hiring of two more officers
By DENISE DICK
A $524,246 grant will allow the township to hire two police officers with the federal government footing the bill for the first three years.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, announced that the township received the grant through the U.S. Department of Justice Office Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Recovery Program.
As part of a strategic plan mapping out township goals, trustees had planned to hire two officers per year, beginning this year and continuing through 2014.
It’s undetermined whether the grant award means that four officers — two funded with grant money and two paid from township funds — will be hired this year or if the two paid with grant money will meet this year’s hiring goal.
“We’re analyzing the budget right now,” said Trustee Thomas Costello. “We put in the budget to hire two officers in the second half of 2010.”
Trustees need to sit down with William Leicht, fiscal officer, to ensure that revenue is coming in as anticipated, Costello said.
“And then we’ll make the decision if we can hire two with the grant and the two we planned, or just the two with the grant,” he said.
Chief Jack Nichols said the township applied for the grant last fall and wasn’t among the 1,046 applications initially approved for funding.
The formula used in selecting grantees was based on applicants’ fiscal and economic conditions, crime rates and community policing activities, according to a letter Nichols received from the DOJ.
A scoring revision, though, allowed the township to receive the funding.
Nichols said he must complete and submit paperwork between June 2 and June 16 after which the township will get the money.
The department already is conducting background checks on prospective hires, a process that takes about a month, the chief said.
He said the township also has submitted an application for additional funding through the program for next year.
The grant will fund 100 percent of the salary and benefits for an entry-level officer for three years. Departments that receive the grants are then expected to retain those officers for at least an additional year.
Under a contract approved last fall, an entry-level police officer will earn $16 per hour.
Jason Loree, township administrator, said the township intends to retain those officers long after that.
“The only reason I support these grants is if there’s the funding mechanism in place to support the officer for the life of the officer,” Loree said. “These aren’t going to be just three-year officers. They’re going to be permanent additions to the police department.”