Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the Treutlen County Sheriff's Office have been awarded portions of over $400 million in federal grants to each hire an additional law enforcement officer.

The Department of Justice Department's of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program announced awards to 596 law enforcement agencies across the nation on Tuesday, with six of those agencies in the Southern District of Georgia.

Montgomery County was awarded $110,888 to hire one officer, and the Treutlen County Sheriff's Office was awarded $92,682 to also hired one officer.

In all, nearly 1,100 grant applications were received from across the nation, requesting more than 4,000 law enforcement positions. The hiring program is a competitive award program intended to reduce crime and advance public safety. Agencies applying had to identify a specific crime and disorder program focus area and explain how the funding would be used to focus on that area. Forty-three percent of the applicants who were awarded funding said they will focus on violent crime, while the remainder of the recipients said they will focus on a variety of issues including school-based policing to fund School Resource Officers (SRO's), build trust and respect for their agencies, and focus on opioid education, prevention and intervention.

Other agencies in the Southern District awarded federal hiring funds were the City of Savannah at nearly $1.9 million for 15 additional officers; the Glynn County Police Department at $1.4 million for eight officers; the Burke County Sheriff's Office will hire six officers at $649,679; and the Dublin Police Department was awarded $375,000 for three additional officers.