Grants

The Recruitment and Retention Grant (through the POST Commission) is designed to support making Tennessee the best state for law enforcement in the United States by attracting quality applicants from other states, as well as previously certified and new officers within Tennessee. This program will attempt to hire 1,000 police officers per year until the state’s law enforcement agencies could reduce staffing deficits caused by attrition, as well as provide bonuses to a minimum of 3,000 new law enforcement officers. 

Click here for the Recruitment and Retention grant invoice.

For purposes of this Grant Contract, definitions shall be as follows and as set forth in the Contract: 
a. “Eligible Officer” means an Experienced Officer or a No Previous Certified Experience Officer hired by a local law enforcement agency in Tennessee after May 1, 2023. An Eligible Officer cannot have previously surrendered a certification in any state, have been decertified by the POST Commission or equivalent in any state in the United States, or have been decertified as a result of a court order by any state or federal court.
b. “Experienced Officer” means
i. a law enforcement officer who has been POST-certified in Tennessee with a break inservice as a law enforcement officer of more than one (1) year but less than seven (7)years; or
ii. a law enforcement officer who has been POST-certified or the equivalent POSTcertificationfrom any state in the United States, other than Tennessee, with a break inservice of less than seven (7) years.
c. “Longevity Milestone” means,for an Experienced Officer, the time periods of six (6) months, twelve (12) months, twenty-four (24) months, or thirty-six (36) months the Eligible Officer serves on the Grantee’s active roster. “Longevity Milestone” shall have the same definition for a No Previous Experience Officer except that it does not include six (6) months.
d. “No Previous Certified Experience Officer” means a law enforcement officer who has never been certified in Tennessee, or the equivalent in any state in the United States, or a previously certified officer with a break in law enforcement service of seven (7) years or more.

The TLETA Cost Sharing Grant will help reduce the cost to local law enforcement agencies when a new officer is sent to
the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy, and for other training and professional development expenses. This includes three critical areas of assistance for local law enforcement agencies including paid tuition for Basic Police School, daily working uniforms and physical fitness gear, and assistance for incidental training expenses to offset ancillary costs of training new personnel.

Click here to complete an interest form.  Please select which grant(s) you are interested in and we will get the process started on our end. 

Please return your form to POST.grants@tn.gov as soon as possible so your application can be processed in a timely fashion.

 If you have any questions, you can email POST.grants@tn.gov or call 615-741-8546.