“We are excited to be receiving this federal grant,” said Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell. “It was a very competitive process and we are grateful to receive funding that will help with our staffing situation and sustaining public safety.”

Tacoma received the second largest grant in the nation after Los Angeles, California, and is one of eight police agencies in Washington that received awards from more than $111 million in COPS grants.

“This is great news for Tacoma,” said Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland. “Community based policing consistently ranks high as an integral part of our public safety strategy and gives us the biggest return on investment of public safety dollars. It focuses on prevention, community engagement and neighborhood partnerships.”

“This shows what a collective effort between the City and the Union can accomplish,” said Terry Krause, President of Local #6. “We are very appreciative that the Mayor invited our participation in the application process and are grateful that we can continue to provide excellent public safety services to our citizens.”

COPS Hiring Program (CHP) grants are designed to advance public safety through community policing by addressing the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new and/or rehire career law enforcement officers, and to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

The City had applied for $5.9 million from the DOJ’s Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) hiring grant in an effort to save 18 police officer positions.