WILMINGTON — The town of Smyrna was awarded a $125,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday — part of more than $139 million in funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP).

The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.

“The COPS Hiring Program underscores the department’s commitment to investing in prevention and intervention programs in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss, in a press release. “With this award, the town of Smyrna will be able to devote additional resources to educate the community about the pitfalls of substance use.”

CHP is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing.

CHP provides funds directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new or rehire additional career law enforcement officers, thereby increasing their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

Of the 183 agencies awarded grants Thursday, almost half will use the funding to focus on building legitimacy and trust between law enforcement and communities; 41 agencies will seek to address high rates of gun violence; 21 will focus on other areas of violence; and 19 will focus CHP resources on combating hate and domestic extremism or supporting police-based responses to persons in crisis.

“We are committed to providing police departments with the resources needed to help ensure community safety and build community trust,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The grants we are announcing (Thursday) will enable law enforcement agencies across the country to hire more than 1,000 additional officers to support vitally important community oriented policing programs.”

Since its creation in 1994, COPS has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 135,000 officers.

CHP, COPS’ flagship program, continues to be in demand today: In FY21, COPS received 590 applications requesting nearly 3,000 law enforcement positions. For FY22, President Biden has requested $537 million for CHP, an increase of $300 million.