The Page County Sheriff's Office is receiving a grant of more than $300,000 from the Justice Department to hire veterans.

The money will help bring back three positions that were lost.

Page County Sheriff John Thomas said crime is the worse he has seen in years, and is hoping once these positions are filled, we will see those numbers go back down.

There will be one position in crime prevention and two positions in patrol.

The department is primarily targeting veterans, but officers who have been laid off can apply.

Thomas said six and a half positions in law enforcement were lost along with an additional number of positions, totaling at nine in the department.

This counted as one of the criteria for applying for the grant, along with the amount of crime in the area.

Thomas said there is a lot more gang activity in the south end of the county.

"When your manpower gets down to a point where all you're doing is going from call to call, you have no opportunity go out out here and proactively be checking the storefronts and checking places where you know you traditionally have problems and so on and so forth, because all you're doing is being able to respond to your calls," said Thomas.

The first three years are funded, but Thomas said he first will present to the board of supervisors his plans for funding the fourth year.

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