DOJ Byrne Grants to Washington State Police Departments pay for a variety of crime fighting tools

Seattle – Some 13 different law enforcement entities are receiving more than $2.6 million in federal Byrne grants to pay for a wide variety of law enforcement programs, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The projects are proposed by each jurisdiction and DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance evaluates them and determines funding.

“The proposals being funded this cycle range from high tech items for officer safety such as drones, robots and ballistic vests, to officer recruitment programs and school resource officers,” said U.S. Attorney Gorman. “There is even a grant for something called “The Grappler” which assists officers with safely stopping a fleeing vehicle in a high-speed chase.”

The Seattle Police Department received two large grants – the biggest, $750,012 is for Seattle and surrounding jurisdictions using the city as the fiscal agent. The grant is for Seattle and its suburbs to use for a variety of programs that reduce crime. The programs can be for law enforcement training and overtime, for victim services and community-based programs.

The second large grant to Seattle supports innovation in the 9-1-1 dispatch system. SPD is partnering with the National Policing Institute to implement and evaluate the Intelligent Risk Management system (IRM) for emergency calls. The system is used to evaluate calls to see if alternative dispatch, such as mental health specialists is appropriate. The program will undergo rigorous testing and evaluation. Seattle hopes the program can improve police capacity and enhance public trust. The system will also be evaluated for replication in other jurisdictions across the country.

These are the other police departments receiving grants:

• Tacoma & Pierce County - $339,235 – for support of youth violence reduction strategies and a sex offender records management system.
• Snohomish County - $448,000 to support use of Rapid DNA system for use in solving crimes and identifying victims of crime or natural disasters.
• Clark County and Vancouver - $121,258 – the two law enforcement agencies will share the funds and enhance public safety with equipment purchases.
• Bellingham - $40,170 – the funds support adding more bicycle officers, and de-escalation equipment as well as ensuring each officer has a ballistic vest.
• Kitsap County - $39,423 to purchase ballistic vests capable of deflecting high caliber rifle shots.
• Lakewood - $39,064 – for the purchase of a tactical robot to allow officers to evaluate a situation without putting officers in harm’s way.
• Everett - $34,720 – to enhance recruitment efforts for qualified law enforcement officers using various digital strategies. Reducing the officer vacancies from 28 down to less than 5.
• Thurston County -$19,809 – for purchase of two “Grappler Police Bumper Pursuit” technology systems – a net and tether system used to safely stop a vehicle in a car chase.
• Bremerton - $14,524 – for crime prevention strategies in its downtown core.
• Marysville - $11,426 – for an Unmanned Aerial System (drone) for flyovers during warrant service or other law enforcement purposes involving threats, missing persons, barricaded subjects or hostage situations.
• Lynnwood - $10,209 – equipment purchases for officer safety.
• Longview -$10,098 – to continue the school resource officer program in Longview and Cowlitz County.

The Byrne Grants are named in honor of New York City Police Officer Edward R. Byrne, who was killed in the line of duty on February 26, 1988. Officer Byrne was just 22 years old.