A resolution approved by Leesburg commissioners Monday night authorizes the city’s police department to apply for and accept a grant that would defray a portion of the costs for three new in-car video recording systems.
According to Police Chief Robert W. Hicks, the 2018 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant would award the department $12,489 toward the purchase of the equipment, which comes with a total price tag of $15,585. Hicks said his department has the remaining $3,096 in its operating budget.
The new equipment is needed because some of the department’s patrol cars are equipped with “antiquated” in-car recording systems, which impact officers’ ability to “capture quality audio-video data,” Hicks wrote in a memo to commissioners. He said the data serves numerous roles, from evidence to use in training officers to administrative reviews of police actions – “all vital parts of modern policing.”
The deadline to submit an application for the grant is Aug. 22, the chief said.
