FERRIDAY, La. — A $215,671 U.S. Department of Justice grant to be used to hire five new Ferriday police officers for three years will be waiting for Ferriday whenever the town gets the money to match it.

&uot;We need it, I&160;can tell you that,&uot; Police Chief Eddie Newman said Tuesday. As it now stands, his department has seven officers, not including Newman, to cover a town with an estimated 4,222 residents.

To spend the COPS grant, the cash-strapped town needs to raise $71,890 to match it.

Newman tried to get private contributions to match the grant for several months, with little success, and the grant still hasn’t been matched.

&uot;The money is still available. We understand there has been some difficulty getting the match, … but there’s no deadline on the grant,&uot; said Dan Boulton, a spokesman for the Department of Justice’s COPS program. &uot;We’ll work with them to adjust the time frame for spending it.&uot;

The most likely source of those funds will be a 3/4-cent sales tax Ferriday voters passed last fall, which is expected to generate $315,000 a year.

Mayor-Elect Glen McGlothin and members of the Ferriday Town Council, who will be sworn in July 1, have said they are in favor of using some of the tax proceeds to match the COPS grant.

Later this week, the Town of Ferriday should receive paperwork it must sign to activate the grant, Boulton said.

He added that the funds are not actually paid until the department hires the officers.