Grant money helps cops, sheriff fill key needs as budgets shrink

Police were quick to develop a suspect after the shooting death in July of Diontea Jackson-Forrest, a promising young athlete and recent Wasson High School graduate.

But they didn't get their "smoking gun" until tiny markings on a shell casing were matched to a pistol allegedly belonging to Tyrief Reynolds, a former classmate who police say was preparing to leave town even as the ballistics evidence was being processed.

The expert who uncovered the evidence, and the equipment he used, are in Colorado Springs thanks in part to the Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant, one of 22 grants police obtained last year.

Without that resource, police could count on a delay of several weeks while waiting for similar testing at the state crime lab in Pueblo, giving Reynolds or any other suspect plenty of time to slip away.

Here, testing took about three hours.

"(Reynolds) was already packed up," said Colorado Springs police Lt. Bill Lidh, who recounted details of the murder suspect's arrest to illustrate what grant money can mean for authorities in El Paso County.

Every year, police and sheriff's officials cast a wide net for grant dollars to supplement shrinking budgets. The funds are sometimes based on financial need, and sometimes meant for specific programs. In other cases, they're given competitively to agencies with the most persuasive pitch.

During fiscal year 2007, federal, state and local grants brought more than $4.5 million to Colorado Springs police and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, with some awards being doled out over the course of several years.

That was a considerable boon in a year otherwise marked by painful choices during lean times: ground two police helicopters or turn off street lights; dip into the city's budget reserves or close police substations at night; risk alienating voters with requests for more money or leave the county jail underequipped and crowded.

Tapping grant programs won't make those problems go away, of course, but the money can ease financial pressures while improving services and equipment.

Police last year were allocated $3.4 million through their 22 grants - about 4 percent of their $88.1 million budget. The Sheriff's Office got nearly $1.2 million, about 3 percent of its $44.6 million budget.

The programs they fund will focus on Internet crimes against children, drug trafficking, elder abuse, homeland security, domestic violence, gangs, traffic offenses and reducing re-offenses by jail inmates.

The grant-funded programs include:

* Secure Our Schools. Police received $131,000 to fund a partnership with Colorado Springs School District 11 focused on improving school security, possibly to include installing card key entry systems at some facilities and surveillance cameras in some parking lots and other public areas.

* Mobile Blood Alcohol Testing Unit. The $250,000 police BAT vehicle will serve as a mobile command center for drunken driving checkpoints, allowing for breath testing, videotaping DUI examinations and a room for a health care professional to draw blood from suspects. The vehicle, which goes into service this spring, was funded by the state Department of Transportation.

* Reduce Auto Theft. RAT provides overtime pay for officers to patrol target areas most vulnerable to auto thefts. It's funded by a state grant administered through the Colorado State Patrol and drawn from voluntary contributions from insurance companies doing business in Colorado.

But what happens when the money dries up?

Across the country, law enforcement agencies are sounding alarms over a recent decision to slash federal spending on the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program, which is commonly used to fund drug interdiction programs, especially efforts to curb meth use.

This year's federal appropriations bill cut the program by two-thirds, reducing available funding from $520 million in 2007 to $170 million in 2008.

Authorities here said the diminished grant program won't imperil drug programs in El Paso County.

But it could spell trouble for Sheriff Terry Maketa's fledgling Reintegration and Recovery Program, aimed at reducing probation and parole violations.

The program allows inmates to use jail time to satisfy court mandates, such as drug and alcohol assessments, while also getting training in a variety of life skills - how to get and keep jobs, budget money and be better parents.

The program was launched last autumn with the help of a $132,400 JAG award, but its future could depend on how the cuts affect next year's allocation.

"We will continue to look for funding from other sources," said Lt. Lari Sevene, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office. "We're certainly not going to be able to find that money in our budget."

The Sheriff's Office is likewise dreading cuts in JAG funds received by the state and distributed to local governments on a competitive basis.

In the past, that money has proven instrumental in buying items such as bulletproof vests, which cost upward of $600 apiece, as well as patrol vehicle accessories such as emergency light bars.

For the most part, though, grants are intended to provide seed money for new programs, to get them up and running until local agencies find their own funding sources.

Other programs end with the grant money after they've provided necessary training or equipment.

Meanwhile, grant seekers are accustomed to the vagaries of government largesse.

It was the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods that helped the Metro Crime Lab hire ballistics expert Cordell Brown in 2004, but its funding was slashed the following year.

Two years later, the retired Colorado Bureau of Investigation examiner is still hard at work testing ballistics on crimes in and around Colorado Springs - courtesy of another grant, the Coverdell grant.

"We've had to reapply every year, but we've been fortunate to get the money from one source or another," Lidh said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com