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Today, Congressman Cuellar (TX-28) announced that the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program has awarded a grant to the City of San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) in the amount of $3,125,000. This grant will support the hiring of 25 new police officers. These funds are part of the $98,495,397 in grant funding announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP).

“The COPS Hiring Program provides our local law enforcement agencies with the resources they need to protect our communities. As a member of the appropriations committee, I worked with Chairman John Culberson to ensure this program is properly funded,” Congressman Cuellar said. “This funding will increase our community’s safety and help prevent crime. I congratulate City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Police Department, and I thank Mayor Ronald Adrian Nirenberg, the city council and Police Chief William P. McManus for their leadership in securing the grant. I also thank the San Antonio Congressional Delegation for working together as a team.”

San Antonio, Texas is the seventh largest city in the United States, and the SAPD serves as the primary law enforcement authority for more than 1.46 million of its residents. It is among the fastest-growing cities in America and the SAPD endeavors to keep up with migration, annexation and global tourism with 2,407 full-time, sworn officers who are required to police more than 465 square miles of sprawling urban area. San Antonio is also recognized as one of the nation’s leading tourist and convention destinations with over 25 million visitors per year. However, even with the city’s thriving economy and a low unemployment rate, the City still faces challenges related to public safety.

Funding from the 2017 COPS Hiring Program will help combat the rise in violent crime in the San Antonio area. Much of this violence is attributable to a small segment of the population which is generally involved in criminal gang activity.

The $3.1 million in federal funds will support twenty-five sworn police officers that will be assigned to support the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) program, the Southwest Texas Fusion Center’s Violent Crime Intelligence Program, and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network system. Additionally, as ‘Military City USA’, the SAPD will continue its active outreach to the veteran community for recruitment.

The COPS Hiring Program (CHP) provides law enforcement agencies grants to hire new or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase community policing and crime prevention.

The CHP grant provides 75 percent funding for entry-level salaries and benefits for three years.