The Department of Justice will allow Vancouver to modify a grant to save police officer jobs rather than make new hires, Police Chief Cliff Cook announced Monday.

The move may mean that instead of having to lay off uniformed officers, the department may be able to meet its budget cuts through retirements and attrition, Assistant Chief Nannette Kistler said.

Vancouver received a Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grant to hire 10 new police officers and pay their salaries for three years, but realized quickly that layoffs were on the horizon. So they appealed to the federal agency to allow them to use the $2.6 million COPS award to retain 10 police officers scheduled for layoffs on Dec. 31.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be in a position where we will not have to layoff,” Kistler said. “But it’s important for people to recognize we are a shrinking organization.”

Kistler said that she has heard that officers are taking advantage of the city’s retirement incentive of $1,000 for every year of service and are resigning or are looking for work elsewhere. Cook had said that up to 22 jobs would have to be cut without the COPS grant — now that number lies somewhere around 10.

“The grant funds will cover entry-level officer salary and benefits for 10 officers for three full years,” Cook wrote in an e-mail to city administrators, from his vacation.

Because many of those 10 officers have been with the department for long enough to get step wage increases, the city will have to pay the difference between the entry-level salaries and the officers’ actual pay, Kistler said.

Should the department have to do layoffs the next year, the money can be reallocated to officers with higher seniority in the police union, allowing the department to make necessary cuts and stay in line with guild rules, she said.

Getting the grant changed was a top priority for Cook, along with the rest of the city administration, Kistler said. She credited the department’s partnerships at the state and federal level, along with its special programs, such as neighborhood policing and the Neighbors On Watch volunteer program, for the Department of Justice’s decision to modify the COPS grant.

“They recognize we’re the real deal,” she said.

Cook also noted “generous support from our congressional delegates,” Congressman Brian Baird and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

The Vancouver City Council must approve the grant before the police department officially accepts it.

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