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News Release
Contact: Joe King, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-4299
Sept. 11, 2003
NIU police get community policing grant
DeKALB -- The NIU Department of Public Safety’s commitment to community-oriented policing paid off earlier this month when the department received $300,000 from the Department of Justice to hire four new officers.
“Most departments do community oriented policing as a program with just a handful of people involved,” says NIU Chief of Police Don Grady. “Here, it is a department-wide endeavor. It’s what we do all day every day. This will allow us to better meet our goal of being the safest college campus in the state. This grant is a tremendous opportunity for the university,” he added.
Grady hopes to have the new officers hired by January and working in the Community Safety Centers by March. The five centers, located in residence halls, are vital to the successful community policing effort on campus, he says, because they allow officers to become deeply involved in the community and work proactively with residents to address issues before they become problems.
“Assigning police officers to a specific building allows them to become a part of that community. They eat with the students in the cafeteria, they talk to them in the lobby and they pass them all the time in the hallways and stairwells. As students begin to feel comfortable with officers they start telling them about problems around the hall. In the meantime, those who may be prone to causing problems think twice before doing so,” Grady explains.
Established last year, the Community Safety Centers are credited with helping to bring about a 59 percent reduction in reported criminal incidents in residence halls during the fall term of 2002 compared to 2001 .
The Department of Justice grant, made through that agency’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, will pay a significant percentage of the salary and benefits of each new officer over three years, up to a maximum of $75,000. Local funds pay the remainder, and each grantee is required to retain the new positions, for one full local budget cycle after the federal funding ends. The duties of these new community policing officers will include homeland security activities.
The grant to NIU was part of $99.3 million in grants provided by the DOJ to fund the hiring of 1,311 full-time and 16 part-time law enforcement officers in communities in 49 states and three U.S. territories.
“Throughout the country, law enforcement agencies are increasing the quantity and quality of the services that they provide. They have successfully reduced crime, and are protecting our communities against the ongoing threat of terrorism,” said Carl R. Peed, Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. “These grants, and the new officers they represent, will help keep our communities safe.”
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