Officer Ray Brady, left, of the Dysart Police Dept. pictured on Tuesday, Dec. 7 in Waterloo with three of this year’s Shop with a Cop participants. Contributed photo

The Dysart Police Department is poised to grow by one member in 2022 thanks to a recent grant award.

At the regular meeting of the Dysart City Council on Wednesday, Dec. 8, Dysart Chief of Police Joe Hols updated the council on a $125,000 grant the city was awarded in 2021 as part of the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Orienting Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP).

The $139 million in grant funding made available through CHP in 2021 will provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, according to a COPS Office press release, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

Two cities in the Northern District of Iowa received CHP awards during the 2021 funding cycle – Dysart and Sheldon. The Norwalk City Police Dept. and the Union County Sheriff’s Office were the only other law enforcement agencies in Iowa to receive funding under the program.

Chief Hols asked the council for approval to hire one additional full time police officer with the grant funds, thereby moving Dysart’s police force from two full time officers to three.

The motion to hire a third full time police officer passed the council unanimously.

Funds from the CHP grant will be spread out over a three year period, Chief Hols said.

The new officer will join current full time Dysart police officers Ray Brady and Chief Hols on the force. Dysart Police Officer Jeremy Stenda is currently part time.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the press release.

“The grants awarded to Dysart and Sheldon will provide those cities the opportunity to hire officers who will further develop community oriented policing programs. Each city will be made safer by doing so,” Acting U.S. Attorney Sean R. Berry further stated in the release.

CHP is a competitive award program that provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers.

In fiscal year 2021, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions.

According to the COPS Office press release, for fiscal year 2022, President Joe Biden has requested $537 million for CHP – an increase of $300 million.

The complete list of 2021 awards can be found https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/2021AwardDocs/chp/Award_List.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.

This article has been updated to reflect that the third officer would join Chief Hols and Officer Ray Brady as a full time officer. Dysart Police Officer Jeremy Stenda is currently considered part time.