Longview Police Department asks for up to $500,000 in state grants

LONGVIEW – The Longview Police Department asked City Council to approve application for five state grants, and the council has agreed. According to our news partner KETK, officials say this will help officers better serve people in the city. Each grant is up to $100,000, and two of the grants will help replace old equipment that is used on daily patrols. “The cameras, for example, are well utilized for crime scenes, and they would like some new updated cameras that are more reliable,” said Laura Hill, director of grants and human services. The department will also use the money for new body armor to protect officers in the field. “As you can imagine, it’s quite expensive, so any little bit we can get from grants helps save the taxpayer dollars and we don’t have to budget to replace that same safety equipment,” said Hill.

To help prevent crime before it happens, Partners in Prevention’s youth mentor program is hoping for $20,000. “It would go for training materials for the mentors, supplies, staff to keep everything organized,” said Hill. “We currently have nearly 100 mentors and mentees, so you can imagine keeping that many schedules of people going is quite challenging.” All of the grants are being offered by the office of the governor. In November of last year, $355 million was made available for public safety.