Stimulus Package Could Boost Community Policing

New York, NY —

The federal stimulus bill could bring hundreds of additional police officers to New York City at a time when it's planning to cut one thousand from its force. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more.

REPORTER: The House version includes a federal Community Policing Services provision, or COPS program for short. Under it, the city would be eligible to deploy 440 police officers for three years. It would have to commit to keep the new hires for a full year after the federal grant expires.

To get its share, the city would have to write a competitive grant. In the less generous Senate version still being hashed out the city would have to come up with a 25 percent share for the new hires, which would mean kicking in $40,000 per officer. A lot is riding on how the Senate and House versions are reconciled. Without some federal intervention, Mayor Bloomberg's budget plan for next year calls for letting the NYPD drop to under 35,000 officers, well below the 41,000 it had in 2001. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly.