Northwest Arkansas, River Valley law enforcement agencies receive grant money to purchase equipment

Bullet-resistant vests, cameras for officers and cars among planned upgrades

Centerton Police Department; stock art photographed on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/FILE PHOTO)
Centerton Police Department; stock art photographed on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/FILE PHOTO)

The Centerton Police Department will use $100,000 in grant money from the state to help buy ballistic vests, along with body and car cameras, Capt. Christopher Kelley said.

The department is one of the 113 local and state law enforcement, correctional or detention facilities sharing a total of more than $7 million in grants, according to a news release Thursday from the state Department of Public Safety.

The grants were authorized last year through legislation adopted by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the state Legislature. Act 786 of 2021 sanctioned the Public Safety Equipment Grant Program to be administered by the Arkansas Department of Public Safety and provides for grants to be used for buying "non-lethal equipment that aids in improving trust and relationships between law enforcement agencies, detention centers and corrections agencies" within the communities they serve.

Police and sheriff's offices are receiving about 90% of the money, the release states.

"One of the key recommendations of our Task Force to Advance the State of Law Enforcement in Arkansas was the creation of state funding for increased training and improving the safety equipment used by local law enforcement officers," Hutchinson said.

The grant applications submitted earlier this year were reviewed and graded for distribution by a committee selected from a cross-section of state and local law enforcement officers, correction and detention officers and professional laypersons, according to the release.

Kelley said Centerton's Police Department expects to get the cameras some time next year. The equipment all together is expected to cost between $500,000 and $600,000, Kelley said.

The department has body cameras, but no cameras in their cars, he said. The new body and car cameras will be compatible with each other. Cars will have a front camera and a camera facing the backseat, he said.

"We are thankful to get the grant," Kelley said. "We can certainly use it."

The Washington County Sheriff's Office received a $100,000 grant. Jay Cantrell, the current chief deputy of the Sheriff's Office who will take office as sheriff in January, said the money will be used to replace outdated mobile video recorders for patrol vehicles.

Prairie Grove's Police Department will receive $9,693. Chief Chris Workman said he heard about the grant via email late Thursday. The department will use the money to buy body cameras for officers and replace old body cameras, he said.

The Greenland Police Department will receive $16,710. Chief Craig Stout said the money will be used to purchase five Motorola Watchguard V-300 body cameras. Stout has five full-time officers and one part-time officer. The officers bought their own body cameras as a preventative measure, said Stout, who started as chief in February.

The purchase also will come with cloud storage for five years, and at about the three-year mark, Motorola will upgrade the cameras as part of the original cost, Stout said.

The Fayetteville Police Department will receive $100,000.

Anthony Murphy, a spokesman for Fayetteville police, said the grant will be presented to the City Council on Dec. 20 for acceptance. The money will partially pay for the department's body cameras and/or virtual reality training simulator, Murphy said.

The Arkansas State Police will receive $99,661.

Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the State Police, said the grant will be used to initiate a pilot project to test body cameras simultaneously operated with State Police patrol car cameras. Twenty cameras and two servers will be purchased, he said.

The pilot test project will be limited to the Arkansas State Police Interstate Patrol Team, he said.


Grant amounts

Northwest Arkansas and River Valley law enforcement agencies received a combined $1,338,671 in Public Safety Equipment Grants. Here’s the breakdown of who got what:

Alma Police Department: $100,000

Centerton Police Department: $100,000

Crawford County Sheriff’s Office: $100,000

Decatur Police Department: $46,028

Fayetteville Police Department: $100,000

Fort Smith Police Department: $68,459

Fort Smith Public Schools Police Department: $49,372

Greenland Police Department: $16,710

Greenland School District Police Department: $6,173

Jasper Police Department: $18,000

Little Flock Police Department: $100,000

Lowell Police Department: $100,000

Newton County Sheriff’s Office: $62,674

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority Police Department: $16,572

Prairie Grove Police Department: $9,693

Scott County Sheriff’s Office: $100,000

Springdale Police Department: $100,000

University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Police Department: $48,469

Van Buren Police Department: $67,500

Waldron Police Department: $29,021

Washington County Sheriff’s Office: $100,000

Source: Arkansas Department of Public Safety

 



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