05/22/2006 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Citizen Corps Grant The Lino Lakes Police Department submitted a grant to the Minnesota Citizen Corps requesting funds to form a program called Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) in our community. The goal of the program was to solicit volunteers to assist the police department in a variety of areas such as: Crime Prevention, Emergency Management, Police Records, Investigation, Property Room, Computers, Equipment and /or special Programs /Projects. Other tasks included: assist with school - based programs such as DARE, after - school programs, special events, provide short-term care of juveniles in protective custody and fmgerprinting. Members of the Volunteer program assisted the police department with continued training in Homeland Security and Emergency Management disaster drills and updated the fax numbers of the area businesses who participate in our fax tree notification system. Volunteers also assisted with traffic issues. The $54,000 grant ended during 2005, but due to the program's success (over 3,600 volunteer hours donated during 2005) Volunteer Coordinator position was expanded to include Crime Prevention and has become a permanent position with the department. Karen Anderson has coordinated the creating of recruiting materials, brochures and flyers, attended training on Neighborhood Watch and National Night Out. Business Crime Watch and Retail Business Watch Groups were initiated and expanded as was the Explorer program. COPS Universal Hiring Grant We applied and received a U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant which pays up to $225,000 to hire thee additional full -time officer positions. The goal of hiring three additional officers is to increase efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within our city. We designed specific protocols and training with the Centennial Fire District and the State of Minnesota Department of Corrections in an effort to provide an all hazards response including responding to possible terrorist acts. The Lino Lakes Police Department recognized there is not enough staffing available to spend adequate amounts of time on the tasks involved with recognizing and preventing terrorism. By receiving grant monies officers are now able to work on the task of recognizing and preventing terrorism. Operation Night -Cap The department again participated with other agencies within Anoka County to conduct traffic saturation details during designated dates and times. The details were conducted to educate the public on awareness of traffic safety issues including impaired driving, seat belt usage and aggressive driving. The grant amount received was $5,000. Lino Lakes Police Department 2005 Annual Report 14