Menendez Asks Feds for Cash to Hire More Newark Cops

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) asked Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday to give "due consideration" to the Newark Police Department's request for federal funds to hire 15 more  officers, which Menendez said was urgently needed in light of a recent string of homicides occurring in the city.

Click here to read Menendez's letter to Holder.

"While prevention of gun violence is a long-term issue that requires a collective community response, I believe that the federal government should provide desperately needed resources to help Newark hire additional personnel. Specifically, a COPS Hiring Grant would help the city respond to this horrific escalation in violent crime," Menendez said in his letter to Holder, referring to the Community Oriented Police Services federal grant program.

Last year, nearly a dozen police departments in New Jersey received about $10 million in COPS funding, according to figures provided by Menendez's office. Newark -- which has been hiring police once again in the wake of the 2010 layoff of more than 100 officers -- was not among those communities.

In his letter, Menendez referred to a series of unrelated homicides that began shortly before Labor Day and lasted  for 10 days, with a killing occurring on each day. A total of 61 people have been murdered in the city so far in 2013, NJ.com reported.