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Joe Pittman (right), a Stafford deputy, and Jason Miller, a Caroline deputy, teach defensive tactics to recruits. MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR Visit the Photo Place

LAYOFFS AVERTED BY POLICE GRANTS

Stimulus pumps money into law enforcement

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Date published: 4/18/2009

BY EMILY BATTLE

The biggest impact of President Barack Obama's stimulus bill on local law enforcement agencies came earlier this year.

When the General Assembly learned that the state would receive $24.3 million in justice grant money from the legislation, it removed a proposed cut to sheriffs and other constitutional officers from the state budget.

Stafford County Sheriff Charles Jett said that saved him from cutting 14 deputies. Spotsylvania County Sheriff Howard Smith said it saved seven deputies in his department.

"We would have been in a crisis here if they had made that cut," Smith said. "Right now we can't afford not to have seven deputies. I know the economy is slowing down and people are out of work, but our work has increased. We are seeing call volumes go up."

Both sheriffs are hoping the stimulus will provide even more money so they can hire more deputies at a time when government budget situations have forced them to pare down their spending to the bare essentials.

The stimulus bill includes $1 billion in grants for hiring community police officers. Police and sheriff's departments from all over the country will compete for that money, which will pay for new officers for up to 48 months. After that period, the locality has to pledge to pay the officers' salaries for a year.

Jett said he plans to apply for 20 positions through that grant. A staffing study his department commissioned two years ago identified a need for 14 new first-responder positions and six new administrative positions.

Neither state nor local money has been available in recent years to pay for those positions, so Jett's hoping the stimulus money will help.

Smith said he plans to apply for money for six deputies.

The Fredericksburg Police Department also will likely ask for grant money for at least one officer through the community-police grant program.

The stimulus has also opened up other competitive grant programs, offering money to investigate Internet crimes against children and domestic violence.

Jett said he hopes to be able to fund at least one position with grant money to start a domestic-violence unit.

In addition to the competitive grants, the stimulus bill made money available to all Virginia localities through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program.

Here is what area police and sheriff's departments could receive from the justice assistant grants that are part of the stimulus package. In addition, many localities also are applying for competitive grants that are part of the stimulus bill. $59,867 Caroline County $16,996 Culpeper County $41,095 Town of Culpeper $57,076 Fauquier County $92,590 Fredericksburg $23,591 King George County $21,055 Louisa County $10,908 Orange County $181,375 Town of Orange $19,025 Spotsylvania County $120,240 Stafford County $17,503 Westmoreland County This is an occasional series in print and online about the federal stimulus package's impact on our area. Tomorrow, read about how foreclosures are keeping some local workers busy. Visit fredericksburg.com to see earlier stories in the series, along with bonus multimedia content.

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Date published: 4/18/2009

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