Grants

Like most cities, Charlottesville spends more than 90 percent of its police budget on salaries, benefits and vehicles, leaving little room for innovation. CPDF helps to facilitate financial support for strategic needs that would not otherwise be accomplished within city budget constraints. It makes grants from its own funds, matches grants from funding partners, and serves as a fiscal agent for outside grants that it secures for the department. It also assists in identifying and developing government grants that are made directly to the department.

Grants made during 2008 and 2009 included:

• TRANSLATION SERVICES ($5,000) to hire impartial translators as needed for police interviews, to train officers in dealing with limited-English speakers, to publicize the language assistance service, and make translated forms and documents available.

• HONOR GUARD UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT($6,000) to outfit a ceremonial honor/color guard with proper uniforms and gear.

• CRIME ANALYSIS SOFTWARE AND PLOTTER ($21,691) to purchase software that will enable the department’s crime analyst to track, map, and analyze crime; and to purchase a plotter to print large-scale up-to-date visual information on crime patterns. The software will also enable the department to offer web-based crime data to the public.

• ANIMAL TRANSPORT CONTAINER ($14,500) made possible with a grant from the J&E Berkley Foundation, for a truck unit that allows police to transport as many as six animals in safe, separate compartments.

• LEADERSHIP TRAINING ($7,800) in partnership with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, to enable two police supervisors to complete the National Criminal Justice Command College at the University of Virginia.

PARTNERS: The J&E Berkley Foundation, The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation