City wins $1.25M grant to hire police officers

9/28/2013

The Toledo Police Department is one of nine in the state awarded a federal grant to hire more police officers.

In an announcement Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing listed Toledo as the recipient of $1.25 million to help offset the salaries and benefits for 10 new police officers for three years.

A new Toledo police academy class is to start Oct. 15, but the department isn’t sure if, logistically, it can get an additional 10 officers into that class or if they will need to wait until the next round of hiring, said police Sgt. Joe Heffernan.

Toledo’s grant amount was the most awarded, though Cleveland and Akron received the same. Also receiving funding are Austintown, Canton, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Lima, Mansfield, and Warren.

The Northern Ohio Violent Crime Consortium was also given $500,000 for data analysts and improved technology.

The grants awarded total $6.8 million. Award recipients were selected based on financial need, local crime rates, and community policing plans.