Rutherford law enforcement agencies awarded federal grant

August 29, 2008, MURFREESBORO – A $21,071 U.S. Department of Justice grant will help the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and Murfreesboro Police Department purchase necessary equipment, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon announced today.

“The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program allows local governments to support a broad range of activities to prevent and control crime based on their own local needs and conditions,” Gordon said.

The grant is split evenly between the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office and Murfreesboro Police Department. The sheriff’s office will use the funds to improve the security of their facility by purchasing and installing electronic/manual locks, identification cards, key card sensors, and software to operate and monitor the system.

“We have digital door panels that require a code,” Lt. Phillip Martin said. “We’ve been looking at what other agencies are doing. The advancements in technology and increase in vendors make this system easier and more affordable.” The new system would allow users to swipe their identification cards to gain entry throughout the facility.

The Murfreesboro Police Department will use the funds to purchase software for an online citizen police reporting system.

“This system is designed to eliminate the cost of having officers take no-suspect reports, while still documenting the incident and collecting reportable data for statistical analysis and reporting requirements,” Maj. Hiram Lester said. “This software is designed to work directly with our police records database and print formatted reports that are suitable for filing alongside officer written reports.”

Byrne grant funds can be used for state and local initiatives, technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support and information systems for law enforcement, and court, education, corrections, drug, and technology improvement programs.