FORT LUPTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

130 S. McKinley Avenue,
Fort Lupton, Colorado 80621 Fax 303-857-2703
Ronald E. Grannis, Chief of Police

Abstract
Grant Application
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
CFDA Number 16.804

This grant application is being presented by Ronald E. Grannis, Chief of Police, City of Fort Lupton Colorado on behalf of Fort Lupton Police Department CHILD SAFETY PROGRAM. The goal of this grant project is to enhance the safety of the children of the City of Fort Lupton in three specific areas; Safe Routes to Schools, Internet Predator Detection and Apprehension, and Detection and Prevention of Underage Alcohol Consumption. The strategy to be used in fulfillment of these goals is to purchase lighted blinking stop signs to place in selected school zone areas to reduce the number and frequency of traffic violations in those areas. To purchase updated computer evidence collection equipment to enhance the detective’s ability to identify and prosecute internet predators. And to purchase and deploy several portable alcohol level breath testers to proactively lower the number of juveniles engaging in alcohol consumption. The coordination for this project will be mostly internal. The Fort Lupton police Department will keep detailed statistics in the three areas for the duration of the grant period to compare with current statistics and measure the expected outcomes of each area. The major deliverables for this grant project are the purchase of the equipment as stated to allow the officers of the Fort Lupton Police Department to accomplish the stated goals.

 

Program Narrative
Grant Application CFDA number 16.804

The Fort Lupton Police Department CHILD SAFETY PROGRAM is a three part program to assist the police in providing the children of our community with the safety they deserve. The three parts of the program include, Safe Routes to School, Internet Predator Detection and Apprehension, and Detection and Prevention of Underage Alcohol Consumption. Each part of the program will be discussed by itself.

1. Safe Routes to School:  The City of Fort Lupton school district, Weld RE-8, consists of one high school, one middle school and two elementary schools within the city limits of Fort Lupton. The City is small enough that the vast majority of children walk to and from school. Both of the elementary schools are divided from the closest neighborhood by extremely busy streets. Both schools have a main crosswalk, located at a stop sign controlled intersection, as the main entrance into the school. A portion of these grant monies will be used to purchase and install ‘Blinker Stop Signs’ at these locations. The Fort Lupton Police Department wrote 133 traffic citations in these school zones during 2008. These citations were mostly for speed and stop sign violations. It is only a matter of time before a child is struck by a vehicle in these zones. The installation of the lighted stop signs will greatly enhance the ability of drivers to see and be aware of traffic control devices in these zones.
2. Internet Predator Detection and Apprehension: The Fort Lupton Police Department considers the safe use of the internet by our children to be a very high priority. Our Detective Crystal Schwartz has attended several classes and training sessions on the detection, apprehension and successful prosecution of internet child predators. The police department has arrested five (5) predators, including two involved in law enforcement during 2008. However the department is lacking in computer ability to save and produce to the prosecution the evidence generated by the predator during the commission of the crime. Pictures e-mail and text messages must be saved in a digital format that is presentable to both the prosecution and the accused attorneys. It is highly advisable for the detective to operate off of a standalone computer system, such as a laptop, to preclude the defense from being able to subpoena the department’s entire Local Area Network (LAN) computer system. A stand alone system allows the courts to have all information without shutting down the department’s LAN. A portion of the grant monies will be used to purchase a laptop computer and the associated software to allow the department greater flexibility in the prosecution of these predators.
3. Detection and Prevention of Underage Alcohol Consumption: The City of Fort Lupton, as many others, is experiencing a rise in underage drinking. The Police Department issued thirty-two (32) Minor in Possession citations for underage drinking. This does not include the hundreds that were contacted at various parties and gatherings that we were unable to identify as having alcohol in their systems. The Police Department has worked very hard at being at being proactive in detecting drinking locations for underage drinkers; however we do not have the equipment necessary to field test those juveniles for the presence of alcohol. A portion of these grant monies would be used to purchase portable breath testers to use when contacting kids either at a gathering or driving in a vehicle. Drunken driving deaths involving our children are devastating for a community. This equipment would allow the police to increase our proactive efforts to prevent these deaths. 

Organizational Capabilities: At this time the Fort Lupton Police Department has no other federal funding, so tracking drawdown’s and grant expenditures separately will not create any issues. The Chief of Police and grant manager of this project has managed other federal grants and is familiar with the quarterly reporting procedures including the tracking of monies spent and the progression of the objectives of the grant.

Expeditious Activities: When this grant is approved the equipment and signage will be ordered immediately. This will help to stimulate the economy by providing funds to the manufacturer, the suppliers and the delivery operations. Upon arrive of the goods, the installations will be provided by City Public Works employees, helping to ensure continued employment of the workers. The computer equipment will have to be installed and maintained by the information technology department of the City. Again this helps to ensure continued employment/ job preservation.

Timeline:  The goals for this grant program are to 1) reduce the number and frequency of traffic violations in the selected school zone, 2) increase the number of internet child predators that are identified and prosecuted, and 3) reduce the number and frequency of underage drinkers among the teenage population of the City. The measurement objectives will be an ongoing monitoring of the traffic citations issued, the number of successful predator prosecutions and the number of underage alcohol consumption incidents. These objectives will be monitored over the life of the grant and reported on the quarterly requirement.

Budget Narrative and Work Sheet: The actual budget worksheet has not been completed however the following will be included.