Tulsa FOP Wants City To Accept Federal Grant

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Tulsa's Fraternal of Police wants the city of Tulsa to accept stimulus money from the federal government. 

Last month, city officials say pending city council approval; the city had been awarded a $3.5 million in federal stimulus money to put 18 additional police officers on the street. 

7/28/2009 Related story: Tulsa Receives Stimulus Money For More Police

In a news release Monday, the FOP says that accepting the grant money would be a good move for the city. 

"Endorsing the City's application to accept the COPS Grants is a win-win for both the citizens of Tulsa and the Tulsa Police Department," said Phil Evans, President of Tulsa's Fraternal Order of Police.  

Evans says hiring the additional officers would address some concerns addressed by an independent workforce study of the police department.

"The City and FOP recently had an independent workforce study completed on the manpower of the Tulsa Police Department. The results of the study stated that Tulsa needed an additional 80 officers for the field," Evans said.   

The stimulus grant will pay the salary and benefits for the officers' first three years on the force. The city is required to put up the money for the officers' fourth year.   

The final decision to accept or deny the money is the Tulsa City Council.