WASHINGTON – The Rockport and Calais police departments, as well as the sheriff’s departments in Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties, have been awarded a total of $500,000 in COPS in Schools grants, according to Maine’s congressional delegation.

The Rockport Police Department will receive $125,000 to assist with the hiring of one full-time officer.

A grant of $116,937 to the Calais Police Department will likewise be used to hire a full-time officer.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department will receive a grant of $124,072 and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department will receive a grant of $123,626. These resources will be used to add one full-time officer to each force.

The COPS in Schools program provides grants to law enforcement agencies that join with primary and secondary schools in order to address youth violence and other concerns. The grants are awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, within the U.S. Department of Justice.

“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has awarded significant resources to law enforcement agencies in Rockport and Calais, as well as Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties,” said Reps. John Baldacci and Tom Allen in a joint press release. “These grants will help to make our schools safer places for educators and students to teach and to learn.”

In a separate release announcing the grants, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said the relationships being established by school systems and police departments “can only help ensure our students’ safety by creating a proactive plan that includes permanently placing a police officer in the school system.”