MONTGOMERY— Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded four grants totaling $105,287 to help law enforcement efforts to make several communities become safer places to live, work and play.
Funds from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods will support projects by Montgomery County, the city of Montgomery, the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles and Dallas County to take steps to reduce crime in the surrounding areas.
“All Alabamians deserve to live and work in places that they feel safe,” Gov. Ivey said. “I commend our police officers and sheriffs ‘deputies who work every day to keep us all safe, and I hope that these funds will enable additional measures to be taken that lead to increased safety in our communities.”
The Montgomery County Commission is using grant funds of $32,155 to purchase in-car modem technology that enables sheriff’s deputies to check driver’s licenses, vehicle records, criminal history and warrant information against the National Criminal Information Center data.
The city of Montgomery is using funds of $30,446 to continue using forensic phone analysis software in criminal cases and ankle monitor systems. Forensic phone analysis software can be used to extract locked information on cell phones.
The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles is using $30,000 in grant funds to work collaboratively with the Montgomery Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office to identify the most pressing violent crime issues in Montgomery and to develop a comprehensive prevention and offender re-entry strategy to address those issues.
The Dallas County Commission is using funds of $12,686 to pay overtime for officers serving in the Gang Task Force of the 4th Judicial Circuit. The task force’s goal is to reduce violent crime and gang activity in Bibb, Dallas, Hale, Perry and Wilcox counties.
Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide program that brings together community leaders, law enforcement and judicial officers, elected leaders and others to examine crime issues and work to develop solutions.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available to the state from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“ADECA is pleased to join Gov. Ivey in partnership with city and county law enforcement to help make Alabama neighborhoods safter,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “These grants are a continued demonstration of Gov. Ivey’s support of law enforcement officers across the state.”
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