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Accepting the grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), distributed through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, via the FY 2021 Hiring Program.
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WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul, Police Department (SPPD) has been awarded the 2021 COPS Hiring Program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; and
WHEREAS, the department was awarded $3,750,000 for the grant term through September 30, 2026; and
WHEREAS, this grant was awarded to address devoting proposed new officer positions to the following DOJ focus area; and
WHEREAS, in building legitimacy and trust, the SPPD will deploy officers to partner and engage community stakeholders including residents, businesses, and faith-based organizations to prioritize and collectively strengthen a community’s response to crime and criminal activity and focus on enhancing and maintaining community trust and legitimacy between law enforcement and the communities they serve, to include building trust in immigrant communities; and
WHEREAS, SPPD has also created a fourth division dedicated to community engagement and this grant will allow us to initiate or expand community-oriented activities including: a Citizens Police Academy; regular community meetings at each of our three district locations; participation in events such as National Night Out and Safe Summer Nights; engaging youth with programs such as Explorers and Police Activities League; hiring full-time Community Engagement Specialists with linguistic and cultural skills to connect with major segments of our community; establishing the COAST Unit to pair officers with social workers and specialists in mental health and chemical dependency; enhancing the Law Enforcement Career Path Academy (LECPA) to help diversify the police force; and simply spending time in the community with our Bike Truck or other pop-up events; and
WHEREAS, with this grant we can continue the commitment to community engagement that will effect positive change, with increasing numbers of people being impacted. Whether it is children receiving toys at Christmas, kids’ bikes being repaired, fellowship and community over a plate of hot dogs and hamburgers, catalytic converter theft prevention workshops, co-response to address mental health and chemical dependency within the community or recent immigrants being welcomed to the city by our engagement specialists; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that council accepts this grant authorizes the City of Saint Paul to enter into, and Assistant Chief Robert Thomasser to implement the attached agreement with the U.S Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.