“I’ve always believed that the first responsibility of government is to protect the safety of its citizens,” said Klobuchar, who was Hennepin County’s chief prosecutor for eight years before her election to the U.S. Senate. “This funding will help Metro Transit keep Minnesotans safe while providing much-needed jobs.”
Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight responsibility for law enforcement issues. The funds, from the Transit Security Grant Program, were disbursed by the Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier this week, Klobuchar announced that Minnesota will receive over $11.5 million in COPS grants to help local law enforcement hire additional officers.
During consideration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Klobuchar worked to ensure that the bill included measures to strengthen federal support for local law enforcement, beginning with the Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which helps local communities hire extra police officers or pay for overtime to keep more officers on the streets. She was one of the leading advocates for inclusion of the funding in the bipartisan negotiations of the bill.
