Agencies using $111M in police grants must give veterans hiring priority
With more military veterans returning from war zones and joining the ranks of the unemployed, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that $111 million worth of grants has been allocated to help hundreds of vets become police officers, according to a report in the Christian Science Monitor.
The grants come from the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. According to the Christian Science Monitor, this is the first year that the 18-year program is requiring cites and counties to use the funds to hire only veterans. The grants are intended to fund 800 police jobs over the next three years, and 629 of those will be new hires, CSM reported.
According to CSM, unemployment among veterans who recently left military service jumped to 12.7 percent in May. That was up from 9.2 percent in April.
"We don't think if they fought like hell over there they should have to fight as hard [to find a job] when they get back home," CSM quoted Vice President Joe Biden as saying Monday in a press conference announcing the grants.
The grants will benefit 221 law enforcement departments across the U.S., CSM reported.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
