NORWICH – With several members of the Norwich City Police Department set to retire in the coming year, the NPD was recently announced a recipient of nearly $125,000 in federal grant funding to help ease the burden of hiring needed replacement personnel in the 2014 budget year.

Grant funding comes by way of the United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) Office which received a grant application from the Norwich Police Department in April. City officials were notified that they secured the grant in a phone call and written confirmation received early last week.

According to Norwich Police Chief Joseph Angelino, additional funding from the COPS Hiring Program provides much desired relief as the department seeks to replace a total of four retiring officers by the end of 2014. The department has maintained a $1.4 million budget this year, approximately $1.2 million of which was designated for regular personal services.