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Newberg
police get
grants to reduce crime,
improve safety |
The more than $18,000 in grants and matching funds
will buy equipment, provide training |
By Schellene Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The Newberg Police Department recently received a federally funded local
law enforcement block grant (LLEBG) to reduce crime and improve public safety.
The grant — which totaled $16,205, with an additional $1,801 in matching
funds — will go to buy equipment, software and Nextel phones, among other things, for
the police department.
Mary Newell, NPD support services manager, said the U.S. Senate is
proposing to reduce grants nationwide as much as 63 percent.
During the 2003 fiscal year, the LLEBG received $400 million, but next year
it will only be able to fund $150 million toward the needs of police departments.
“What that means for us is we are the only community that received the
grant (in Oregon),” Newell said. “The cuts will mean that there won’t be as
much to go around.”
The city of Newberg applied for the grant to pay for needed equipment such as
an ID card printer and the software to create IDs and keycards. The ID card printer and
software will cost the city $4,500.
“We currently don’t have one,” Newell said. Right now the city
has ID and key cards printed at a business in town.
“We think it would be better if we had our own printer.”
The grant will also be used to pay for training mats for police officers. The
mats, which will cost $1,500, will be used for defensive tactics training exercises. Right
now officers are training on borrowed mats.
In addition, for $3,000 motorcycle police officers will be given mobile
WebLEDS (law enforcement data systems) for use when they are working from a motorcycle.
WebLEDS, Newell said, are hand-held computers that will allow officers to
track down information on license plates and check on abandoned vehicles more quickly that
they can at this time. Right now, an officer has to call dispatch for that information.
Police are also purchasing another hand-held radar at a cost of $3,500 to
replace one currently in use.
“We want to replace them before they wear out,” she said.
Detectives will receive Nextell phones for $2,500 as part of the grant. The
phone will allow officers to communicate in groups and in case of emergency, Newell said.
Finally, the police department is using $3,006 to buy Simunition firearms
training equipment. The equipment allows officers to train with live targets.
“They actually have guns that shoot a paintball,” she said.
The money is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of
Justice Assistance.
The money for the LLEBG, the COPS program and the Edward Byrne Memorial Grant
Program will be significantly reduced during the 2004 fiscal year, according to a
memorandum from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
“In total, the funding levels for these three programs would be reduced
by more than $550 million from their current levels,” the memorandum goes on to
state.
That means $578 million will be reduced from the more than $2 billion set
aside to fund grants for police departments nationally.
The memorandum was issued to urge IACP members to contact their senators and
ask them to restore the funding necessary to fight crime, according to a press release
from the IACP. |
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From Oct. 15,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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