The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program that has helped tribes with law enforcement handed out its last set of police hiring grants this month.

The Bush administration has eliminated funds for the hiring portion of COPS, saying it has achieved the goal of putting 100,000 officers on the beat. But once the grants expire, tribes and other jurisdictions will not have any money to continue paying the officers.

Already, tribes have lost significant portions of their force due to the expiration of the program. Indian Country stands to lose 30 percent of its officers, a BIA official said earlier this year.

Congress would have to appropriation more money to keep the hiring grants alive. Other portions of the COPS program will remain, says the Bush administration.

Get the Story:
Hiring Under COPS Appears Set to End (The Washington Post 9/30)
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