Charlotte, NC –   The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is pleased to announce its receipt of $483,825 in federal stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the Byrne Competitive Program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  CMPD was among several departments awarded money from $2 billion in the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program.

CMPD will use the funds to support four new crime analyst positions over a two-year period. The analysts will play an integral role in advancing CMPD's primary goal of crime reduction at the neighborhood level by providing crime and offender data to the 39 Response Area Commanders who, in turn, will use the information to develop targeted crime reduction strategies.

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program is the largest justice assistance grant to states. Distributed by the Department of Justice, it funds state and local government efforts in a broad range of activities including drug treatment and enforcement, criminal reentry initiatives, crime prevention, and corrections activities. Its flexible grant purposes permit states to innovate in a wide variety of criminal justice programs, based on shifting community needs. Grants may be used to provide personnel, equipment, training, technical assistance, and information systems for more widespread apprehension, prosecution, adjudication, detention, and rehabilitation of offenders who violate state and local laws.

Earlier this year CMPD was awarded an $8.5 million grant in federal stimulus funds under the COPS Hiring Program associated with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.  This grant is being used to hire 50 additional officers in an effort to increase community-policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.