Local agencies were helped by police grants set for cuts

Grant funding program for police on the chopping block has been essential for some La Crosse police staffing.   

The Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) grant program is set to be cut in the recently released President Trump budget blueprint.  

COPS grants  pay for, among other things, training and recruitment for local police agencies.  

La Crosse has been the recipient of COPS grants.  Notably, the department used a $375 thousand grant in 2013 to launch the Neighborhood Resource Officer program.

 While that grant expired, the city has continued to fund the first 2 resource officers as well as expand that program to include 4 more positions.  

La Crosse Democratic Congressman Ron Kind has made a plea to preserve the grants.

In a statement this week, Kind said, “Our police officers work tirelessly, often on small budgets, to keep our communities safe. With an increasing drug epidemic we should not be making it harder for them to do their jobs by cutting programs that help make sure they have the personnel, equipment and training they need.”

According to Kind, COPS grants have also supported the Eau Claire and Ho Chunk police departments, among others.