Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, announced that the Department of Justice is awarding $66,780 to support law enforcement and public safety in Garfield. This federal grant will go towards developing, implementing, and evaluating a body-worn cameras program in Garfield to enhance officer interactions with the public and build community trust.

"A positive relationship between law enforcement and the people they serve is critical in any community, and programs like this can serve as a vital tool in building and maintaining that bond," said Rep. Pascrell. “While our dedicated officers in Garfield remain committed to cementing public trust, lack of funding for important programs like this have hampered that mission. As their Representative in the Congress and co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I am proud that we’ve secured this federal assistance for Garfield’s Finest and will continue to fight for more awards like this for all our communities in need.”

“I believe we have some of the best officers here in Bergen County,” said Garfield Mayor Richard Rigoglioso. “So, on behalf of the City of Garfield, and the Garfield Police Department, we’d like to thank Congressman Bill Pascrell as he continues his fight to not only secure resources for our police department, but his continuous dedication and hard work in making our police officers and their families feel safe. Congressman Pascrell’s service is invaluable not just to Garfield but to all our communities that he represents. I would like to personally thank him. Keep up the good work of protecting our communities, and our law enforcement and first responders.”

Today’s grant announcement comes one week after Rep. Pascrell announced $180,000 in law enforcement funding for the City of Passaic.

As co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, Rep. Pascrell has made federal support for law enforcement a chief priority in Washington. He has led efforts in Congress to protect numerous law enforcement funding streams from sabotage by the Trump administration. Rep. Pascrell was the principal sponsor of H.R. 2379, a congressional reauthorization of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. On May 24, 2019, his legislation was signed into law, permanently authorizing $30,000,000 annually for the Bulletproof Vest Grant Program. On March 26, 2019, Reps. Pascrell and John Rutherford (R-FL-04) introduced the Probation Officer Protection Act, H.R. 1866, which would give federal probation officers the power to arrest third party individuals that obstruct a parole officer from carrying out their job. Reps. Pascrell and Rutherford also introduced the National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act, H.R. 1865, which would authorize the minting of a coin in honor of the Museum.