BACKGROUND:
The Cathedral City Police Department has been eligible and has applied for the Edward Byrne Memorial Assistance Grant program for several years. This year, as in past years, several Riverside County law enforcement agencies were identified as “disparate funding” agencies. This disparate allocation occurs when a city is allocated one and one-half times (150 percent) more than the county, which the county bears more than 50 percent of the costs associated with prosecution or incarceration of the municipality’s Part 1 violent crimes. A disparate allocation also occurs when multiple cities are collectively allocated four times (400 percent) more than the county, and the county bears more than 50 percent of the collective costs associated with prosecution or incarceration of each municipality’s Part 1 crimes. Cathedral City has been identified as a disparate agency for this year.
The total funding identified for Riverside County is $498,388.00. Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will receive $69,654.00 and the remaining 15 municipalities will receive $428,734.00. The $498,388.00 is the amount for Riverside County and the participating cities with the county. This formula explains why Cathedral City and the 15 other agencies in Riverside County were identified as disparate funding agencies. The jurisdictions certified as disparate must identify a Fiscal Agent who will submit a joint application for the aggregate eligible allocation to all disparate municipalities. The joint application must determine and specify the award distribution to each unit of local government and the purpose for which the funds will be used. The cities and county agreed that the County of Riverside (Sheriff’s Dept) would be the Fiscal Agent for 2022. Riverside County has created an Interlocal Agreement for the 15 cities and the joint application for the disparate agencies.
The identified funds for Cathedral City are: $11,400.00 less 10% ($1,140) to the County Sheriff’s Dept. for their role as Fiscal Agent and for managing the application process. The remaining balance of $10,260.00 is awarded to Cathedral City.
DISCUSSION:
The Cathedral City Police Department will purchase the following equipment with the 2022 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) funding allotment:
One Pelican Remote Area Lighting System with power pack at a cost of $1,491.92. An additional twenty (20) Intrinsic magnetic body worn camera mounts with mount stud at a cost of $1,321.61. Replacement of thirteen (13) Kodak Pix-Pro 16 MP digital cameras for a total a price of $2015.30. Forty-six (46) CSI Kits, containing various evidence gathering supplies such as fingerprint powder, lifting tape, evidence tubes, and item markers, at a total cost of $5426.06.
**All items listed include the sales tax and handling in the price The Cathedral City Police Department prides itself in providing quality service to our residents. The ability to retrieve and preserve evidence early in an investigation can be the difference between not identifying a suspect and successfully prosecuting the person responsible for committing the crime. The CSI kits will assist in the initial collection of evidence to increase the likelihood of locating evidence to support successful prosecution. The remote area light will be utilized during the processing of larger crimes scenes to facilitate location and collection of evidence. Updating a portion of our digital cameras will benefit the department in collection of evidence. The photographing of evidence prior to collection is vital to accurately depict and document victim injuries and evidence with higher quality proofs. In keeping with the nationwide call for transparency, the department led the way in the Coachella Valley by being the first agency to implement a body worn camera program. As a result, the department has reduced the number of citizen complaints and obtained spontaneous statements from suspects leading to successful prosecutions in a myriad of criminal cases. The department has since transitioned to an updated body worn camera system. This update required the purchase and use of new body worn cameras and mounting hardware. During the seven years of deploying body worn cameras, we learned the body worn mounts are the weak link in effectively deploying the cameras. Often during physical altercations, the camera may be dislodged, which can permanently damage the mount while making the camera footage useless. The extra mounts will allow the department to properly deploy the cameras to better serve our community.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The grant funding will allow for a revenue resource to purchase the identified equipment in the amount of $10,260.00.