A big time federal grant will employ 16 new police officers in Albany and two new officers in Troy. Our Erin Vannella talked to leaders in each city and tells us what the funding means to them.

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CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. -- "This was a great gift," said Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff. "It made my day, it's made my week."

Almost $4 million to Albany, about $350,000 to Troy, all of it to bolster community policing efforts, courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.

Krokoff said, "This grant was entirely grounded in this department's ability and the want to further the community policing and it couldn't have come at a better time for this department."

"Actually when I was notified of the grant award, I was in a staff meeting with the mayor getting more officers out on the beat, walking. That's been a large emphasis here and it will allow us to continue and expand in that vein," said Troy Police Chief John Tedesco.

It's money Senator Kirsten Gillibrand requested from the federal COPS Hiring Program with the goal to put more officers on the street. And in the Capital Region, it's enough to hire 16 new police officers in Albany and two in Troy.

"In a department the size of the City of Albany, 16 officers is huge. It's going to be a tremendous benefit and it's not going to be 16 officers that just melt into the fabric of the department, it's going to be 16 officers that are out there to compliment what we're already doing," Krokoff said.

"It's critically important in days of shrinking budgets, the burdens on the taxpayers. We had one vacancy that was unfilled in 2011 so we'll be filling that. We'll be adding on to the department, so we've already started the process of hiring two officers with this money," Tedesco said.

"It just enhances our number here, the more people we have dedicated to community policing here, the more we can have exchanges with the public, they understand what's going on and the more visibility we have on the street the better off for all of us," Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings said.