The City of Stockbridge will soon receive an influx of additional police officers, thanks to a special US Department of Justice (DOJ) grant allocation.

On October 13, the DOJ announced funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide funding to law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing the hiring of additional full-time law enforcement professionals. 

Stockbridge, one of only 4 cities in Georgia to receive funding through this grant, was awarded $1,250,000 towards the hiring of 10 police officers to assist with the initial three years of employment.

“The addition of ten more officers enhances our overall visibility and improves our ability to engage with the community and keep our community safe,” said Police Chief Frank Trammer.

The awarding of this grant is timely due to the recent passage of the November 2022 referendum to annex portions of unincorporated Stockbridge. The city will gain about 6,500 new residents in January.

The 2022 COPS Community Hiring Program is a competitive grant program designed to provide funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire additional career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Anticipated outcomes of the CHP program awards include engagement in planned community partnerships, implementation of projects to analyze and assess problems, implementation of changes to personnel and agency management in support of community policing, and increased capacity of agency to engage in community policing activities. 

To learn more about CHP, visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-award. For additional information about the COPS Office, visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/.