Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Grants
to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
Bureau of Police
GR-70-00-008
December 21, 1999
Office of the Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division, has completed an audit of grants awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Bureau of Police. The purpose of the grants is to enhance community policing. Harrisburg was awarded a total of $750,000 to hire 10 new police officers and $86,636 to redeploy the equivalent of 3.5 full-time officers to community policing.
We reviewed Harrisburg's compliance with seven essential grant conditions. We found weaknesses in the two areas identified below. In addition, Harrisburg officials indicated that they would not use $375,000 in UHP funds awarded to hire five officers. As a result, we recommend that COPS deobligate $375,000 and put the funds to better use. 1
These items are discussed in greater detail in the Findings and Recommendations section of the report. Our audit objectives, scope, and methodology appear in Appendix I.