Local officials are hoping to receive a state grant for $1,200 to help fund new body cameras for the Hope Police Department.
The Bartholomew County commissioners recently approved a grant application from Emergency Management Director Shannan Cooke for this purpose.
Cooke said the application is for the Indiana Local Body Camera Grant Program, which is being administered by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The grant request is for three body cams for Hope Police Department full-time officers. According to Hope Town Marshal Matt Tallent, the department has a total of three full-time officers.
“This is a matching grant,” added Cooke. “And with Hope, it’s based upon population. So Hope’s match would be $3o0, and that would be covered by Hope PD.”
When asked about how the ongoing service would be paid for, she said that this could be funded as a portion of the match.
“Matching contributions for this program must be program allowable. This can include camera equipment costs and other body-worn camera program costs such as storage, software, licenses, services, training, etc,” according to Homeland Security.
Grant funds, on the other hand, may only be used to purchase body cams.
“The continuing charges will be much higher than the actual cost of the cameras. … What you’re saying is the Hope PD is going to be paying any ongoing charges for this, not the county?” asked Commissioner Tony London.
Cooke confirmed this was the case and added that the police department already has cameras, so the cameras bought with grant funds will replace equipment that is “old and obsolete.”
Under the rules of the grant program, a law enforcement agency that already has body cams is given second priority for funding. These agencies can apply for grant funds not exceeding $400 per full-time officer.
The availability of “Priority 2” funding depends on the amount awarded to Priority 1 applications, which are for agencies that have not previously purchased body cams. These agencies can apply for up to $800 per full-time officer.
The percentage required for the local match varies based on population. For a town with a population of less than 10,000, such as Hope, a 25% match is required.
