Harford County soon will hire four deputies, using grant money available from the federal COPS AHEAD program to pay their salaries and benefits, Sheriff Joseph P. Meadows said last week.
COPS AHEAD, an acronym for Community Oriented Policing Services -- Accelerated Hiring, Education and Deployment, is part of an $8.8 billion federal crime bill recently passed by Congress.
Sheriff Meadows praised Democratic U.S. Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland for helping obtain the grants for his department.
"With help from the senators' staff members and the administrative assistance we received from County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann and her staff, we were able to complete the pre-application process," the sheriff said.
"Four more deputies mean a lot to this department."
The sheriff said he expects 11 deputy recruits in a Harford County sheriff's office training academy to graduate in January and be on duty by March after completing field training.
"The four new hires are in addition to the 11 recruits in the academy," the sheriff said.
The sheriff said the new hires will be added in 1995, probably as his office accepts transfers from other police agencies of officers already trained.
"We can get transfers out on the road faster and at less cost," he said.
Meanwhile, the sheriff said, his agency will begin completing "lots of paperwork" to receive the grant money for the four new PTC hires.
"We've only completed the pre-application process," he said. "The remaining paperwork must be done in much more detail."
As an agency participating in the COPS AHEAD program, the sheriff's office may select and train the new deputies immediately, a spokesman for Senator Sarbanes said.
Money will become available to pay the new deputies when they are sworn in.
The grants are awarded for up to 75 percent of the total salary and benefits of each deputy for three years.
The maximum grant for each deputy is $75,000. The remainder (( must be paid by state and local funds. Depending on experience, new deputies in Harford County earn a starting base salary of $23,192 to $24,346 plus a benefits package, said Sgt. Edward Hopkins, a sheriff's spokesman.
The COPS AHEAD program was designed to benefit jurisdictions with populations of 50,000 and above.
A similar program, called COPS FAST, serves agencies in smaller population areas.
Other metropolitan police agencies in Maryland that will get additional officers under the programs include: Baltimore City, 76; Anne Arundel County, 14; Baltimore County, 13; and Howard County, 8.