WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has awarded four Maine police departments a total of $625,000 to hire police officers. The Augusta Police Department, Ellsworth Police Department, and Westbrook Police Department will each receive $125,000, and the Biddeford Police Department will receive $250,000.

“Communities across Maine rely on local law enforcement to help keep them safe, and federal investments can play an important role in assisting those community efforts,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. “This grant funding will support local police departments as they work to protect families and promote public safety.” 

The funding was awarded through the DOJ’s COPS Hiring Program (CHP). CHP was 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 prevention efforts.

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