Arlington City Council Approves Three Grants to Improve Resident Safety

By Ryan Hunt

Posted on November 16, 2015, November 16, 2015

Arlington City Council continues to reinforce its priority to Champion Great Neighborhoods, approving three grants to improve community policing efforts and resident safety throughout the city.

The City Council authorized the acceptance of the following grants at the evening session on November 10, 2015:

• The acceptance of a grant from the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for $74,999 over two years through the COPS Community Policing Development Microgrant Program for the development of a Smartphone app for officers and residents. The Arlington Police Department proposes a two-phased design project to create an officer app for internal use exclusively for law enforcement as well as a public app for a mobile platform to compliment the department's web page redesign. The apps would increase Arlington Police Department's capacity to keep officers informed on a multitude of critical topics while on patrol as well as reach citizens on the most relevant technology platform.
• Approval of a resolution to accept an annual grant award in the amount of $81,442 and amend the Family Violence and Prevention Grant administered by the Police Department at the request of the Criminal Justice Division. This grant funds one full-time Victim Services Counselor dedicated to addressing family violence in Arlington. The Office of the Governor has requested that the funding for this grant be transferred from the Violence Against Women Act fund (where the current grant is funded) to the Victims of Crime Act Fund. The purpose of this action is to extend the grant from a 12 month period to 13 months in order to align with the federal and local fiscal year. The Governor's Office is increasing the amount of the award to reflect this change.
• Approval of a resolution authorizing the application and acceptance of grant funds from the Texas Department (TxDOT) for additional traffic enforcement, if awarded. In fiscal year 2016, the Police Department is eligible to receive approximately $274,192 in TxDOT grant funding for speed, safety belt, and DWI enforcement. This grant will provide reimbursement for salary costs for approximately 4,380 hours of additional enforcement using existing personnel on an overtime basis, mileage for vehicles, supplies, traffic safety education materials, and grant administration. The City's local match for salaries, fringe benefits, travel, mileage, etc. will not exceed $68,548. The total grant amount is $342,740.