Terrebonne receives $500,000 grant to hire more police

Terrebonne is one of four parishes that is sharing $139 million in federal grants to pay for the hiring of new police officers.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans said Terrebonne was awarded $500,000. The money comes from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services COPS Hiring Program, which provides grants to law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire additional officers.

In addition to Terrebonne, Bogalusa received $219,000, Tangipahoa was awarded $125,000 and New Orleans received $7.2 million.

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The grants aim to increase community policing and enhance crime prevention efforts, officials said.

Terrebonne President Gordy Dove said the grant will allow the Houma Police Department to hire four new officers.

“We’re definitely going to put it to good use,” Dove said. “I want to congratulate Capt. Bobby O'Brien and Chief (Dana) Coleman. They do a wonderful job. We’ve got a good team. They’re very aggressive on the current drug situation and enforcing the laws of Terrebonne.”

Coleman said the community will benefit from additional police protecting the streets.

“Any opportunity to receive funding to hire new police officers is an opportunity to add to public service within our community,” Coleman said. “With this new grant we intend to add personnel to our agency and coordinate our efforts to enhance public safety within the city of Houma.”

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Since its inception in 1994, the COPS program has invested more than $14 billion to pay for policing efforts, officials said.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release. “The grants we are announcing today will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”

— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Terrebonne receives $500,000 grant to hire more police officers