Senator Warner announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has distributed more than $5.1 million from the economic recovery package to eight Virginia law enforcement agencies to hire and retain 31 new law enforcement officers in Virginia.

The grants will go directly to eight of law enforcement agencies in Virginia, allowing them to hire career law enforcement officers for community policing and crime prevention efforts.  The grants will fund the entry-level salaries and benefits for the officers’ first three years on the job, and grant recipients must  retain these new positions for at least one year beyond that.

The grants, provided through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, were distributed through the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Recovery Program. 

The funding was part of $1 billion in grants from the Justice Department to 1,046 law enforcement agencies nationwide and is expected to create or save close to 4,700 officer positions across the country.