Feds Provide Funds for School Resource Officers in Newtown

The U.S. Department of Justice is providing funds to pay for two school safety officers in Newtown, Connecticut schools.

The announcement comes on the same day that the state bond commission approved the first round of funding to build a new Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Next month, residents will vote on a referendum to remove the school where a gunman went on a rampage last December, killing 20 first graders and six staff members.   The plan is to build a brand new school on the property.

After the tragic shooting, communities across the country have increased security or reevaluated their existing policies.

The federal government is giving Newtown $150,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

“This grant funding will help to offer critical support for law enforcement and essential services to the community as Newtown comes back from a heartbreaking tragedy,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a news release.

In August, the Bureau of Justice provided $2.5 million in funding to the Connecticut State Police, the Newtown Police Department and other partner agencies that provided assistance in response to the shootings at the elementary school to go toward costs related to overtime, forensics and security in the aftermath of the crime. 

“Just over nine months after the senseless mass shooting at Sandy Hook, we remain committed to providing every resource we can to ensure that the children of Newtown can feel safe and secure at school and elsewhere.  And as we hold lost loved ones in our thoughts and prayers, we resolve to continue to support and protect this community – and to help them heal together,” Holder said.

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is also providing grants to several local communities.
 
The City of Bridgeport will receive $2,247,250, Farmington Police Department will receive $125,000, the City of Hartford will receive almost $1.8 million and the Norwich Police Department will receive $500,000.
 

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