Funds Sought for New Police Equipment

TYLER – The Tyler city council has approved applying for grant funds for new equipment for the police department. The police department will be pursuing grants for $105,000. Some of the funding is for replacing 150 body cameras. They typically have a two year life span and Chief Jimmy Toler said they have stretched their current equipment past that time. And the rest of the funds will be to purchase equipment that will test substances by scanning directly through plastics, bottles and other translucent packing materials. This will reduce officers’ contact with potentially dangerous drugs by reducing the risk of toxic exposure.

The funding for the body cameras will be sought from the office of the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division for $60,000. This grant will require a 20% match at $12,000. As far as the drug identification equipment, they will seek a Justice Assistance Grant for $45,000 from the East Texas Council of Governments. This will fund the purchase two mobile spectroscopy drug analyzers to be utilized in the identification of more than 1,000 different narcotics and pharmaceutical drugs.