Essex County Courthouse to receive over $123K from Justice Department grant

NEWPORT — The Department of Justice recently announced more than $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (CHP) program.

The Essex County Courthouse is set to receive $123,257 from this grant.

The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

In the District of Vermont, the town of Bristol is also set to receive $125,000.

CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through
community policing.

CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

Of the 183 agencies awarded grants today, approximately half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities.

Through the grant, 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence, 21 will focus on other areas of violence, and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting policy-based responses to persons in crisis.