HPD, WCSO to share grant for equipment

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August 20, 2010

By Matthew Jackson Staff Reporter The Huntsville Item Fri Aug 20, 2010, 02:31 PM CDT

HUNTSVILLE — The City of Huntsville and Walker County have received a dual grant from the United States Department of Justice to purchase new equipment to aid the Huntsville Police Department and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office.

The grant was awarded Wednesday as part of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, also known as JAG. The program gives funds annually to state and local agencies nationwide to aid in crime prevention.

According to Huntsville Community Development Specialist Dr. Sherry McKibben, the city and county have been splitting the grant for several years, and alternating which entity will administrate the grant.

McKibben said this year the city will administrate the funds, and both the HPD and the WCSO will receive just over $9,000.

“We already know what we’re getting and the county knows what they’re getting,” McKibben said. “It’s a two-year grant, so we have two years to spend the funds.”

McKibben said the WCSO plans to spend the funds on investigative equipment including new scanners and printers for their offices, while the HPD plans to use their half of the funds to purchase new equipment for their crime scene unit.

According to Lt. Jim Barnes of the HPD, equipment scheduled to be purchased through the grant includes a forensic light source, optical fingerprint software, a fingerprint fuming tank and a digital camcorder.

Barnes the forensic light source, which provides a variety of light filters to view evidence invisible to the naked eye, will be particularly helpful to the HPD’s crime scene technicians.

“It will give us the ability to take this to crime scenes and see evidence that may not be visible to the eye without some type of aid,” Barnes said.

Previous JAG grants have been used for various types of new equipment, including laptops for patrol vehicles and aids for narcotics policing.

“Every year we assess our needs in different area, and this year, after talking with the chief, we determined that this was the best use of these funds,” Barnes said.

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