The good news: The Cooper County Drug Strike Force was awarded $288,241 as part of the federal Justice Assistance Grants given to 28 drug task forces in Missouri.
The bad: The Heartland Police Department was denied a request for 6 additional officers as part of a nationwide $1 billion COPS Hiring Recovery Program grant to preserve law enforcement jobs. A total of $19,600,000 was awarded in Missouri.
Funding for the Drug Strike Force comes as a relief, as the organization wasn’t sure it would receive any. Federal budget cuts this year slashed more than 60 percent of the funding for drug task force initiatives, an amount that most likely would have sank the