Fall River Police Department receives over $2.5 million in grants to pay for new officers, training tool

FALL RIVER, MA – The City of Fall River has announced that the Fall River Police Department has been awarded two grants totaling $2,502,555 from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. These grants are designed to enhance the safety and security of the community.

The first grant officially given to the Fall River Police Department was awarded by the COPS Hiring Program in the amount of $2,375,000. This grant will fund the salary and benefits of newly hired police officers up to $125,000 per officer over a period of three years. Over this three-year span, 19 police officer positions can be filled at an entry salary of $41,667 per year.

At this time, there are approximately 15 cadets set to enter the Police Academy around January 2024 and the funding from this grant will be able to be used for their salaries once they are graduated and are formally hired as police officers in the City of Fall River.

The second grant awarded by the COPS Office to the Fall River Police Department was the Law Enforcement Agency De-Escalation Grant in the amount of $127,555. This grant funds the purchase of an Apex Officer Training Simulation, a simulation tool that uses virtual reality providing officers with the ability to train in a variety of situations including but not limited to: de-escalation, use of force, crisis intervention, and implicit bias.

The City stated that the Apex Officer Training Simulation is a device that has shown an improvement in an officer’s willingness to complete required training and responsiveness. This grant is viable for two years and must be used by the Fall River Police Department by September 20, 2025.

“This is an excellent day for the Fall River Police Department. Receiving these COPS grants from the Department of Justice will directly benefit the Fall River Police Department. I want to commend the city’s grant writer, Jasmine Pereira and the Fall River Police Chief, Paul Gauvin for their efforts to obtain these valuable resources,” says Mayor Paul Coogan.

“We are constantly looking for outside sources to help fund our operation and we are pleased to see that these efforts, quite literally, paid off. We are also excited about our VR equipment grant along with a training budget. I believe we will be only the second department in the Commonwealth to have such training equipment and capabilities. Certainly, this will be a training force multiplier. I look forward to hosting the community for an information session, when procurement is realized,” says Fall River Police Chief, Paul F. Gauvin.