Title
Dept/ Agency: Public Safety/Police Division
Action: (X) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Application/Acceptance of Grant Funds
Purpose: To provide funding for overtime to address violent crime under the 2020 COPS Hiring Program.
Entity Name: Department of Public Safety, Newark Police Division
Entity Address: 480 Clinton Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, 07108
Grant Amount: $1,875,000.00
Funding Source: United States Department of Justice, COPS Office
Total Project Cost: $6,425,146.53
City Contribution: $4,550,146.53 (inclusive of local cash match in the amount of $2,971,458.00)
Other Funding Source/Amount: $0.00
Contract Period: July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023 (or until all grant funds are expended)
Contract Basis: ( ) Bid ( ) State Vendor ( ) Prof. Ser. ( ) EUS
( ) Fair & Open ( ) No Reportable Contributions ( ) RFP ( ) RFQ
( ) Private Sale (X) Grant ( ) Sub-recipient ( ) n/a
Additional Information:
This grant will provide for the hiring of fifteen (15) full-time police officers.
The local cash match in the amount of $2,971,458.00 will be provided from Special Appropriation Line: Fund 011, Department 230 Division Code 2301.
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WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), advances the practice of community policing in the United States' state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies by sharing information and providing grant funding to police departments; and
WHEREAS, the 2020 COPS Hiring Program Grant (CHP) has been made available to advance public safety through community policing by addressing the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. This grant is designed to provide jurisdictions with financial support to add or rehire law enforcement personnel vital to effective police operations and other crime reduction strategies consistent with the community policing philosophy; and
WHEREAS, CHP grant funds are a portion of the costs associated with hiring and employing full-time police officers for a three (3) year period; and
WHEREAS, a condition to the receipt of CHP grant funds is that, after the above described three (3) year CHP funding period, a grantee must retain each CHP-funded position for at least an additional one (1) year period using local, state or other sources of non-CHP funds, (the "Retention Requirement"); and
WHEREAS, an additional condition to receipt of CHP grant funds is that the grantee's funds budgeted to pay for police officer positions (irrespective of the receipt of CHP grant funds) may not be reallocated to other purposes as a result of a CHP grant being awarded, i.e. the CHP grant funds must supplement, not supplant, a grantee's funds budgeted to pay for police officer positions (the "Non-Supplanting Requirement"); and
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, on behalf of the City of Newark, the Director of the Department of Public Safety submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Justice, COPS Office requesting grant funding from the 2020 COPS Hiring Program to be used toward the hiring of fifteen (15) full-time police officers (a copy of the application is attached hereto and made a part hereof); and
WHEREAS, as a result of this application, the City of Newark (the "City") has been awarded a grant in the amount of One Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($1,875,000.00) from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, to be used toward the hiring of fifteen (15) full-time police officers with a grant award start date of July 1, 2020 and a grant end date of June 30, 2023 and the local cash match required for this award will be Two Million Nine Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Eight Dollars and Zero Cents ($2,971,458.00) (a copy of the grant award letter is attached hereto and made a part hereof); and
WHEREAS, on July 23, 2020, the Director of the Department of Public Safety and the Mayor of the City of Newark, respectively, did enter into and execute an award document with the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services ("Award Document"), relative to the above-mentioned grant award; and,
WHEREAS, the CHP allows a grantee to use CHP funds to hire full-time officers, any additional costs higher than Seventy-Five (75%) entry-level (base pay and fringe benefits) positions that the City pays the hired officer, must be paid with local/municipal funds, not CHP funds; and
WHEREAS, the estimated cost to the City to hire fifteen (15) officers over the three (3) year grant term and the additional twelve (12) month retention period required by the terms of the grant, is expected not to exceed Four Million Five Hundred Fifty-Five Thousand One Hundred Forty-Six and Fifty-Three Cents ($4,550,146.53), inclusive of fringe benefits (i.e. a total project cost of approximately Six Million Four Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand One Hundred Forty-Six Dollars and Fifty-Three Cents ($6,425,146.53), minus the One Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($1,875,000.00) COPS grant, equals approximately Four Million Five Hundred Fifty-Five Thousand One Hundred Forty-Six and Fifty-Three Cents ($4,550,146.53) to be paid by the City; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to use general funds for the retention period and shall document its plan during the term of this grant; and
WHEREAS, the Director of the Department of Public safety recommends that the execution of the COPS 2020 grant application and Award Document be authorized and ratified and that the grant funds of One Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($1,875,000.00) be accepted, in order to help promote law enforcement efforts and the safety of the citizens of the City of Newark.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee(s), the Business Administrator and/or the Director of the Department of Public Safety, are hereby authorized to submit an application to the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, requesting grant funding from the 2020 COPS Hiring Program seeking funds to assist in the hiring and employment of fifteen (15) full-time police officers.
2. The Municipal Council hereby ratifies its authorization of this application from the date of application submission to the date of adoption of this authorizing resolution.
3. The Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee(s), the Business Administrator and/or the Director of the Department of Public Safety, are hereby authorized to enter into and execute grant documents with the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, in order to receive the grant funding described above, and to expend the funds toward the hiring of fifteen (15) full-time police officers, with a grant award start date of July 1, 2020 and a grant end date of June 30, 2023.
4. The Municipal Council hereby ratifies its authorization of the execution of the Award Document from the date of execution to the date of adoption of this authorizing resolution.
5. The Award Document, and its associated terms and conditions, between the City of Newark and the United States Department of Justice, COPS Office, is hereby ratified from July 1, 2020, to the date of adoption of this authorizing resolution.
6. The grant award in the amount of One Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars and Zero Cents ($1,875,000.00) from the United States Department of Justice, COPS Office, to be used toward the hiring and employment of fifteen (15) police officers for a three (3) year period, is hereby accepted.
7. This grant will fund (75%) of the entry-level salaries and most fringe benefits of fifteen (15) police officers for thirty-six (36) months and requires the City to retain these CHP-funded positions for an additional twelve (12) months beyond the grant period.
8. The City shall be responsible through its municipal budget to pay approximately Eight Hundred Ninety-Eight Thousand Six Hundred Ninety-Seven Dollars and Eighty-Eight Cents ($898,697.88) annually in budget years 2021, 2022 and 2023 for partial salary costs, and approximately One Million Eight Hundred Seventy-Four Thousand Fifty-Two Dollars and Forty-Four Cents ($1,874,052.54) in budget year 2024 for the full cost of the salary and fringe benefits of the fifteen (15) police officers as per the terms of the grant.
9. The grant requires a local cash match in the amount of Two Million Nine Hundred Seventy-One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Eight Dollars and Zero Cents ($2,971,458.00) over a three (3) year period. Matching funds for the first year has been identified in the Operating Budget of the Department of Public Safety and shall be provided from the following line appropriation: Unclassified Operations-Special Items of Appropriation: Fund 011, Department ID#230, Division Code 2301. Cash match funds for subsequent years 2022 and 2023 will be appropriated and available in the operating budget of the Department of Public Safety for the applicable budget year.
10. The Director of the Department of Public Safety shall comply with all grant requirements, including the statutorily mandated Retention and Non-Supplanting Requirements.
11. The Director of the Department of Public Safety shall file a fully executed copy of the grant application, the grant award letter, and the grant Award Document in the Office of the City Clerk.
STATEMENT
This Resolution ratifies and authorizes the actions taken by the Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee(s), the Business Administrator and/or the Director of the Department of Public Safety, to submit an application for grant funding from the United States Department of Justice, COPS Office, to be used toward then hiring and employment of fifteen (15) full-time police officers, and furthermore, ratifies and authorizes the Mayor of the City of Newark and/or his designee(s), the Business Administrator and/or the Director of the Department of Public Safety, to enter into and execute an agreement with and accept said grant funds in the amount of $1,875,000.00 with a local cash match of $2,971,458.00 for a period commencing on July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023. This grant will fund (75%) entry-level salaries and most fringe benefits for thirty-six (36) months and requires the City to retain these officers for an additional twelve (12) months beyond the grant period. The entire costs to cover the difference in the salary and fringe benefits to hire fifteen (15) police officers over the three (3) year grant period and the required twelve (12) month retention period is expected not to exceed $4,550,146.53, inclusive of fringe benefits.