The City of Tacoma has applied for a grant from the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in an effort to avoid laying off 18 police officers, according to City Manager T. C. Broadnax’s March 29 report to Tacoma City Council.

The DOJ’s Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) hiring grant allows each agency to request no more than five per cent of their current budgeted positions and caps the award at $125,000 per requested position, leaving the agencies to fund the balance with a cash match.

According to Broadnax’s report ( http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?nid=58 ), the Tacoma Police Department has requested a waiver for the cash match and has asked that all awarded positions be funded at 100 per cent for the first three years. If awarded, the police department will be responsible to retain the officers for the fourth year, funding the fourth year at 100 per cent. The amount requested is approximately $5.9 million with no matching City funds required until the fourth year of hire for an estimated amount of $2 million.

For more information about the COPS hiring grant, visit http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/ .

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Tacoma City Council to discuss layoffs, budget deficit today — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2080902&more=0

Public meetings Tuesday tackle Tacoma’s budget — http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2079650&more=0

Tacoma City Council resumes budget discussion Nov. 1 — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2060641&more=0

Tacoma’s Money Crunch: City Hall perspectives on Tacoma’s $26M budget gap –http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2058879&more=0

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