The Fall River Police Department (FRPD), and the office of Mayor William A. Flanagan, will be announcing the details of a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant. This press conference will be held on Friday the 1 ^st  of November 2013 at 3:30 p.m., and will take place at the Fall River Police Department Community Room.

The grant was awarded to the FRPD to hire ten (10) officers, either new applicants or to rehire officers that had been laidoff in 2009. The award amounts to $1.25 million dollars in federal funds through the COPS Hiring Program, over a three year period. This is a matching grant with the City of Fall River supplying just over $1.143 million dollars over the three years.

Mayor William A, Flanagan states, "Improving our public safety is vitally important to our quality of life. As a community we must continue to invest in our public safety and ensure that our police staffing levels are sufficient to be proactive in crime fighting."

Chief of Police Daniel S. Racine states, "Since the lay offs of 2009 the FRPD has done more with less, and on many occasions much more with less. I could not be more proud of how the men and women of this agency have performed. This COPS grant, coupled with the EOPSS grant, as well as the increased funding from the City, will allow this organization to be more proactive and preventive. This is a significant shot in the arm for the rank and file of the FRPD"

Senator Edward J. Markey said, "This Community Oriented Policing Services grant is an excellent example of government at all levels working together, and I applaud Mayor Flanagan and Chief Racine for their leadership in securing these federal funds that will help keep the neighborhoods of Fall River safe.  The COPS program provides local law enforcement agencies the tools and federal funding they need to fight crime, and this grant will help ensure we have enough police officers on the street and working with citizens and organizations throughout Fall River to keep our streets, schools and neighborhoods safe." 

Media outlets are invited to attend.