DOJ awards nearly $5 million in Arizona to bolster law enforcement

PHOENIX — The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a total of nearly $5 million to nine Arizona law enforcement agencies to hire additional officers.

The department announced Tuesday that the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’ hiring program had awarded nearly $400 million in grant funding to just under 600 law enforcement agencies nationwide.

An award of $1.25 million to the Pima County Sheriff's Department to hire 10 officers is the largest made to an Arizona agency, followed by $1 million to the Apache Junction Police Department to hire eight officers and $500,000 to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office to hire four officers.

Other Arizona agencies receiving awards are the towns and cities of Camp Verde, Maricopa, Nogales, Peoria, Sahuarita and Winslow. The awards to those municipalities range from $125,000 to more than $700,000.