Commissioners agree to move multiple law-enforcement grant items to next agenda as agencies pursue JAG/Adeca and COPS funding

County law-enforcement leaders briefed commissioners on several time-sensitive grant opportunities and asked that the items be placed on the next formal agenda to meet application deadlines.

Chief Murphy described a recently announced JAG/Adeca equipment funding opportunity that would pay for expansion of the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) and NIBIN operations. Murphy said the RTCC has been expanding since its opening and that a move to the Carnegie Building would allow a larger footprint, bigger displays and room for more camera feeds. Murphy told commissioners the equipment-focused grant would not fund personnel and that similar technology has aided apprehensions by enabling operators to track suspects across multiple feeds.

A county representative outlined a companion Adeca personnel request to fund a prosecutor assigned exclusively to child-victim cases and an hourly legal support assistant for 12 months. The representative said Adeca awards up to $150,000 per purpose area and the district attorney’s office would seek other funding sources after the grant ends to avoid general-fund impacts.

Separately, commissioners raised concerns about a COPS hiring grant the commission previously approved by waiver rule; consultants reviewing the grant identified a limit (about $125,000 per deputy per quarter) that changed the county-match calculations. Staff said the consultants were engaged under an existing grant-management contract and that corrected calculations were emailed to commissioners when the issue was discovered.

Because grant submission deadlines are imminent, commissioners agreed to add the grant requests to the next formal agenda; no award decisions were made during the meeting.