Updated

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has announced Justice Department grants to help police departments across the country hire new officers.

The $119 million in funding was announced Monday at the start of National Community Policing Week. Lynch launched a week of events at a forum at a Dallas high school. She told those gathered that community policing is "work that takes time."

The grants are being awarded to 184 law enforcement agencies across the country to create or protect more than 900 positions.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lynch says events like the Dallas shooting of officers this summer "have raised the visibility of this issue." A sniper killed five Dallas officers at a July protest. The city will receive $3.1 million to hire 25 officers.