Community Oriented Policing Services:  Troops to COPS.


US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FACT SHEET

Community Oriented Policing Services

Troops to COPS

Program Information

Troops to COPS is a program developed jointly by the
Department of Justice and the Department of Defense to
encourage the hiring of recently separated members of the
armed forces as law enforcement officers.  The goal of Troops
to COPS is to provide an incentive for law enforcement
agencies to hire veterans who have served the nation in the
armed forces for service in community policing in cities and
towns across America.

Funding Provisions

Total funding under Troops to COPS will not exceed $15
million, made available to the COPS Office from the
appropriations of the Department of Defense.  It is
anticipated that requests will exceed the funds available for
this fiscal year.

Only those law enforcement agencies who have been selected to
receive COPS hiring grants under COPS:  Phase I, COPS AHEAD
and COPS FAST are eligible for funding.  Troops to COPS grants
may be used only for those recruits who were hired under COPS
grants on or after January 1, 1995.

Troops to COPS funds may be used to reimburse law enforcement
agencies for training costs for the qualified veteran who is
hired as a law enforcement officer.  Troops to COPS grants may
not be used to reimburse costs for equipment, uniforms or
vehicles.

Awards will be made for up to $5,000 per veteran hired.  These
funds will be paid on a reimbursable basis after completion of
training.  There is no local matching requirement for a Troops
to COPS grant.  Troops to COPS funds may be used for costs
incurred during the first three years of the veteran's service
as a law enforcement officer.

Agencies may apply for Troops to COPS funding only after a
veteran has been hired.  As with all COPS hiring grants, the
veteran must satisfy the normal and customary hiring standards
and procedures of the agency, and must receive training in
community policing.

The Troops to COPS Application Kit will be mailed to all COPS
grantees by mid-May.  Applicants will be asked to submit basic
information about the veteran who was hired and a brief
itemization of the training costs for which the agency seeks
to be reimbursed.  The types of reimbursable training costs
will be outlined in the Application Kit.

The deadline for submission of the Troops to COPS Application
is August 15, 1995.  The COPS Office will process Troops to
COPS applications on a rolling basis, and make awards until
funds are exhausted.

To be eligible for reimbursement, the veterans hired must have
been a member of any of the armed forces on or after October
1, 1993, and must have been honorably discharged or released
from active duty characterized as honorable. 

Preference will be given to the requests of those departments
who have hired a veteran who: 1) has been involuntarily
separated; or 2) is approved for separation under the Armed
Forces Voluntary Separation Incentive, or the Special
Separation Benefits program; or 3) has retired pursuant to the
Defense Conversion, Reinvestment and Transition Assistance
Act; AND 4) has experience, training or an occupational
specialty in law enforcement in their respective branch of the
armed forces.  The Troops to COPS Application Kit will contain
more detailed explanations of these preferences.

The Office of Transition Services within the Department of
Defense will maintain a list of COPS grantee agencies that
veterans may access, as well as a list of recently separated
veterans that law enforcement agencies across the nation may
access.  Listing of veterans may be accessed by contacting the
Department of Defense toll free at 1-800-727-3677, and will be
provided free of charge.

An award under Troops to COPS will not affect the eligibility
of an agency for a grant under any other COPS program.