Sacramento city and county were awarded a total of $19.4 million in federal funding grants Wednesday – enough to put 25 police officers and 25 sheriff’s deputies back to work for the next three years. The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program is a competitive grant program through the U.S. Department of Justice that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to hire, rehire, or retain police officers. This year, 2,712 law enforcement agencies requesting more than $2 billion to fund the hiring of 8,999 officers were considered for COPS Hiring Program funding, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Selection for awards was based on an applicant

May 20, 2009 West Sacramento, CA Though the community near Cummins Way and Keegle Drive was packed with police cars, news vans with communications masts in the air, and a large amount of onlookers, there was a tangible quietness that hung in the night air. Neighbors and passersby looked on in stillness and hushed tones as investigators meticulously and patiently combed through the scene in the middle of the blocked off street of this West Sacramento shooting tragedy. Neighbors related that at approximately 6 p.m. two men with pistols walked up to a neighbor’s house and opened fire. Occupants of the house under fire came out with a shotgun and returned fire on the two men. When the shoo