Photo by ekelly80

The Metropolitan Police Department will be able to hire up to five new officers with a federal grant announced today by the Justice Department. MPD will receive $625,000 from the office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS, natch) to create new positions for veterans seeking post-military careers in law enforcement.

The five positions being created in D.C., like all 600 authorized around the country by the $111 million in federal funds announced today, must be filled by post-9/11 veterans, according to a Justice Department press release.

In an email, MPD spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump writes that the $625,000 earmarked for the department will cover a bit less than half the salary of five new officers for the first three years of their careers as D.C. police officers. D.C. was one of about 220 jurisdictions around the country to receive COPS grants today. Los Angeles and Chicago each received the most, with grants authorizing the creation of 25 new policing jobs in both cities.

Elsewhere in the D.C. area, Hagerstown, Md. received $625,000, also to fund the creation of five new law enforcement positions.