During his second visit to Bloomington-Normal this week, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen met with Town of Normal officials to distribute a ceremonial check to the Normal Police Department.
The department received a $750,000 grant last year as part of the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant.
“Congressman Eric Sorensen played a key role in securing this funding,” Normal Mayor Chris Koos said at Thursday’s event at City Hall. “He and several of his colleagues called on Congress last year to continue funding the COPS program, and he made sure Congress understood the impacts of this program.”
The grant subsidizes the salaries of six new officers for NPD. Chief Steve Petrilli said, so far, the department has made five hires, who are currently attending the police academy.
“We knew that we needed to add some officers based on calls for service going up [and] programs being expanded,” said Petrilli. “Instead of doing that through the budget process, we decided to take some steps — and I give a lot of credit to my staff — to go through the grant application process.”
The Town of Normal’s budget affords 84 officers for the police department that is currently at maximum capacity. Petrilli expects the new officers to be on the job in about six months.
“This isn’t about numbers or a dollar figure,” said Sorensen, a Democrat.
“it’s about investing in people, in the safety of our neighborhoods, and building trust between law enforcement and the families they serve.”
The COPS program is additionally intended to expand community policing efforts, including new and upgraded technology, mental health training for officers and adding to the department’s community engagement and public information officer roles.
“Officers right now are stretched too thin,” Sorensen said. “Budgets are tight and too often departments are forced to choose between recruiting new officers and investing in training and wellness.”
This week, Sorensen was part of an effort to reintroduce the Invest to Protect Act, aimed at providing financial support to small and midsize police departments.
“Spoiler alert: Those are all of the police departments in our district. We don’t have a ‘large’ police department,” he said.
Soresen's district includes large sections of Central and western Illinois, including parts of the Twin Cities, Peoria, Moline and the Quad Cities.
Midwestern U.S. senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Todd Young, R-Ind., also have endorsed the Invest to Protect Act. Sorensen is optimistic a Republican-controlled Congress will pass the bill that preserves the COPS grant program.
“I want to make sure that our police force has the training and has the funds that are necessary to do their jobs,” Sorensen said. “This is one of those bills that should be able to get across the finish line in this Congress.”
