The grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) provides a portion of the salaries and fringe benefits of the full-time officers for a three-year period. St. Cloud Police is one of 196 agencies that earned about $107 million in grant funds.
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The St. Cloud Police Department will use the funds to hire three officers and purchase a COPS house in the south side neighborhood where the officers will be stationed.
St. Cloud State Criminal Justice graduate student Blake Held in the St. Cloud State Office for Safety and Risk Management coordinated writing the grant.
He met with St. Cloud Police Commander Jim Steve ’87 to gather data, community statistics and narratives and worked with Student Life and Development Assistant Dean of Students Jen Matzke ’96 to develop a draft of the grant and submitted it with Steve’s approval. President Earl H. Potter III submitted a letter in support of the grant from St. Cloud State.
“I think it will provide opportunities for community members to engage with law enforcement in positive non-enforcement activities,” Matzke said.
The police stationed in the COPS house will have the opportunity to better understand the needs in the community and build a cooperative and trusting relationship with people who live in those communities.
Held agreed. The program will help deter crime in the south side neighborhood and help students feel safer, he said.
This is another example of the partnerships St. Cloud State has with the St. Cloud Police and should complement the work being done by the successful Campus Area Police Services (CAPS) officers, he added.
The COPS grant will also bolster another St. Cloud State and city partnership — Eyes on the South Side, a collaborative program that encourages rental property owners and residents in crime prevention and reduction strategies. The program will be managed from the COPS house once the house is established.
Learn more about the grant in this story from the St. Cloud Times.
