Moreover, only areas with less than 50,000 residents were eligible for the grants. Fairfax and Charlottesville have the largest populations in Virginia under 50,000. With 6,600 localities vying for the money, however, funding for each had to be limited. The money will cover three-fourths of the new officers' salaries and benefits for three years, leaving the city government to foot the remaining 25 percent of the bill. After the first three years, the city will have to pay the entire salaries.
Some officials are less than enthusiastic about the limitations of the grant.
When you start hiring people, you can't just let them go after a couple of years. At the outset of the project, the U.S. Justice Department surveyed communities throughout the country to determine police-officer shortages. The Department then estimated the grants based on entry-level salaries and benefits for each additional employee. O'Connell predicted that the local government might have difficulty finding the money necessary to cover what the grant does not include. There's a possibility that we may only be able to hire one new officer.