MLPD awarded grant to hire officers

MOSES LAKE — In the near future Moses Lake residents will be seeing two new officers patrolling the city, as the Moses Lake Police Department received a federal grant that will allow the department to hire two additional officers.

The MLPD received the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant, which is funded via the Department of Justice and will provide $125,000 per officer and divided over the three-year term of the grant.

The department says the city will be required to account for the difference in the cost of the expenses that the officers incur. The MLPD is one of only three statewide agencies, along with Pasco and Federal Way, to receive funding through the grant. The grant comes around on an annual basis, but this is the first time the MLPD has received the grant in a number of years.

“This is an opportunity for us to begin to address our agency’s number one weakness, which is manpower. We have a current hiring list, and are moving forward to fill these spots quickly, in order to get officers on the street as soon as possible,” stated the MLPD in a release. “We will continue to seek additional funding for positions that will allow us to hire the officers we need.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.