South Asheville News

U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) today announced that the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) awarded five grants to counties in North Carolina’s 11th District. These grants aim to enhance law enforcement capabilities and promote greater trust between police and communities, which is a critical component of public safety and crime prevention.

The COPS Office awards grants to help advance community policing by facilitating trust between police and local communities with the goal of improving public safety and addressing crime. The projects supported by the COPS Office include hiring community policing professionals, advancing innovative policing strategies, and providing training and technical support to community members, law enforcement, and local government leaders.

The following are the grants awarded to respective counties in Western North Carolina:

**COPS Technology and Equipment Program**

This program resulted from Congressman Edwards’ Community Project Funding appropriations requests during the fiscal year 2024 appropriations cycle.

- **$1 million for Transylvania County**: This project will provide mobile and handheld unit radio replacements and radio frequency tower equipment to support public safety in Transylvania County, including the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office. It addresses existing challenges with equipment that has left officers without communications in certain areas, endangering officers, local citizens, and tourists.

- **$963,000 for Madison County**: This project will fund the replacement of end-of-life communications equipment in Madison County’s network of emergency dispatch infrastructure. It aims to allow seamless interoperability between the Madison County Sheriff's Department, other emergency response departments in the area, and state and federal partners as necessary. This upgrade will eliminate existing no-service areas that place county first responders at risk.

**Community Policing Development (CPD) program**

- City of Brevard: $131,524 for “Supporting Law Enforcement Agencies Seeking Accreditation”

- Buncombe County: $400,000 for “Promoting Access to Crisis Teams”

**COPS Hiring Program (CHP)**

- Waynesville: $250,000 for hiring two police officers to increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts

Edwards stated, “Collaboration between our local law enforcement officers and community members is critical to addressing crime and improving the safety of WNC citizens. I am glad to see the COPS Office invest not only in the funding requests for community projects that I made but in additional projects to support the men and women in blue serving our mountains.”

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