NEWPORT BEACH : Grant Lets Police Add 2 Officers, Computers

Two more cops soon will be on the beat.

The Police Department has received a federal grant from the Community Oriented Policing program to hire two patrol officers and to help pay for a new mobile computer system for patrol cars.

Funded through President Clinton’s 1994 anti-crime legislation, the grant will pay 75% of the cost of two new officers for three years. The city will pay the remainder--about $12,000 a year--and 100% afterward, said Sgt. Andy Gonis.

The Police Department hopes to have the officers on working by early January.

Because of financial constraints in recent years, the number of sworn officers has dropped from 149 to 130--the level of deployment 20 years ago.

The Police Department will receive about $670,000 over three years.

“Obviously, if you have an extreme financial situation come up, we would return to where we were,” said Gonis. “But in any event, we’d still have the officers for three years.”

Roughly $145,000 will pay for 26 patrol-car computers, he said. The computers enable officers to access department records as well as state and federal data banks.