Ford Heights and Matteson will be able to hire more police officers as a result of a grant from the U.S. Justice Department, it was announced Wednesday.
Other towns or police departments around the state to share in a total of $2.4 million in Community Oriented Policing Services grants include Crystal Lake, Geneva, Kankakee, the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, Rock Island County and Warrenville, according to a news release from U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill).
The COPS grant will give financially burdened Ford Heights $661,500 and enable it to hire 10 full-time offices. Matteson officials say they will hire two officers with the $150,000 grant.
Throughout the state, a total of 33 full-time officers and one part-time officer will be hired.
Under the program, the recipients can receive up to 75 percent of the total salary and benefits of each officer for three years.
The Justice Department on Wednesday also awarded $780,998 to 52 Illinois towns to enable them to retain 59 officers that are currently being funded by the COPS program.
The grants are geared toward towns with less than 50,000 citizens.
