The US Department of Justice will allocate nearly 5 million dollars to several community policing initiatives in Arizona. The goal is to support collaborative approaches to law enforcement in tribal and rural communities in the state’s first congressional district.
The DOJ funds will go to programs on the Hualapai reservation and the Yavapai Community College District and elsewhere. The department says the initiatives are designed to change the way police interact with communities they serve. The funding will go toward hiring more police officers and training them in community policing principles and tactics.
They'll also be assigned to long-term patrol beats to familiarize them with their neighborhoods to build a better understanding of their community’s policing needs. In addition, the DOJ funds will also be used to reduce violence in schools by training resource officers to be able to work in school settings.
The idea for what officials call Community Oriented Policing is to address the conditions that give rise to public safety concerns like violent crime by encouraging more interactive community partnerships with law enforcement.
Ultimately, officials hope the COPS program will encourage the public to play a larger role in addressing crime and other public safety issues.