Jonesboro Police receive $1m grant to hire 7 officers.(Brief article)

The Jonesboro Police Department recently received a $1 million grant to hire seven officers for three years.

The money comes from the federal economic recovery and stimulus package, said Jonesboro Police Chief Michael Yates.

At the end of three years, however, the city will have to pick up the tab for the officers for at least one year, Yates said. Yates said that in four years, the city would need to hire the officers anyway and he didn't think the new hires would be laid off.

Some of the new officers, who will have a starting salary of $29,000, will be hired in the next couple of months. With the new officers, the Jonesboro police force will be 149.

The extra personnel mean one additional officer per shift, seven days a week.

"So one more officer out all the time--it makes a pretty big difference," Yates said.

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