U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Department of Justice (DOJ), welcomed over $5 million in federal funding heading to New Hampshire allocated through DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Technology and Equipment Program (TEP). The funding comes through congressional directed spending (CDS) requests that Shaheen secured through the fiscal year (FY) 2022 omnibus legislation that was signed into law earlier this year.

COPS TEP helps communities develop and acquire equipment, technology and communications systems to help improve community policing efforts and respond to and prevent crime. Recipients of this funding include police departments in Merrimack, Durham, Cheshire County, Strafford County as well as the New Hampshire Department of Safety. The funds provided through these COPS TEP awards will be used to upgrade communications infrastructure and provide advanced training to law enforcement officers.

“Providing law enforcement with the resources that they need is critical to public safety in New Hampshire. That’s why increasing funding for COPS programs is always one of my top budget priorities as we fund the government each year,” said Senator Shaheen. “This funding is a great resource for the New Hampshire law enforcement community and I’m thrilled to have secured these new grants for our local law enforcement in Durham, Merrimack, Cheshire County, Strafford County and statewide at the New Hampshire Department of Safety. As Congress works to finalize government funding legislation for the next fiscal year, I’ll keep working to increase investments for the COPS TEP program.”

The awards are as follows:

· $1.224 million for New Hampshire Department. of Safety-Division of State Police for Statewide Digital Law Enforcement Equipment and Technology Training;

· $1.472 million for Merrimack Police Department for – Town of Merrimack Radio Infrastructure Upgrades;

· $900,000 for Durham Department of Public Safety for Durham Radio Communications Infrastructure Upgrades;

· $750,000 for Cheshire County Sherriff’s Office for Radio Communications System Upgrades; and

· $752,000 for Strafford County for Strafford County Radio Infrastructure Upgrades.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Shaheen historically secures robust funding for COPS through the annual government funding process.

In the FY 2023 government funding legislation released in August, Senator Shaheen worked to add $240.5 million for Office of Justice Programs and COPS Office grant programs to support efforts that improve police-community relations. This is an increase of $39.5 million, or 20 percent, above the enacted FY 2022 funding level and will support programs for law enforcement officer training on de-escalation, implicit bias and crisis intervention, as well as hate crime prevention and community violence intervention programs.

In addition, Shaheen uses her role as a senior appropriator to push for local projects in New Hampshire through the CDS process, which allows the federal government to invest in policies and programs that provide direct assistance to Granite State communities and help move our nation forward. Shaheen secured $69,047,000 for New Hampshire in the FY2022 government funding bill that was signed into law.

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