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HomeNewsClarksville Police Department Awarded Grant to Hire New Officers

Clarksville Police Department Awarded Grant to Hire New Officers

City of ClarksvilleClarksville, TN – The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Clarksville will receive a grant to hire 12 new police officers.

The Clarksville Police Department was one of 379 law enforcement agencies nationwide to be awarded funding from the office of Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program through the Justice Department.

“This is significant for our police department. Thanks to this grant, we can get more officers on the streets and in our communities so that families and business owners can feel safer. It’s a boost in Public Safety that’s long overdue,” said Mayor Johnny Piper shortly after receiving the news.

The $1.8 million grant will pay officers’ salaries and benefits for three years. The City of Clarksville will be required to pay for the positions for a fourth year. These 12 new officers are going to finally allow the City to have 2.1 officers per 1,000 in population, which is closer to the national average of 2.2 per 1,000.  The average for departments in our region is 2.5.

“This is great for our department. It gets us going in the right direction. Mayor Piper recognized a problem with a lack of officers and did something about it.  Once the census numbers come out they will show we are way behind in the number of officers needed to police this City,” said Police Chief Al Ansley.

The Justice Department awarded a total of $298 million in grants to fund the hiring and retaining of 1,388 law enforcement officers in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

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