Boulder Police Application for the FY2023 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant

The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance certifies the City of Boulder Police Department, Boulder County, and the Longmont Police Department are disparate. The Memorandums of Understanding/Interlocal Agreements for each agency are included in the Review Narrative. The two police agencies and the County met and agreed to distribute the total award amount of $70,369 as indicated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics allocation list.

View the application here:

Listed below is the breakdown for each agency:

Agency Eligible Individual Allocation Eligible Joint Allocation
Boulder Police $37,539
Longmont Police $32,830
Boulder County 0
$70,369

The group designated the Boulder Police Department as the agency to serve as the
fiscal agent and to submit a joint application for the total eligible allocation. Each agency submitted a request for equipment and/or personnel to prevent and control crime based on local needs and conditions and to improve officer safety along with addressing the issue of domestic violence in the community.

CITY OF BOULDER POLICE DEPARTMENT: allocated $37,539 for the following:

This grant will assist the Boulder Police Department in funding projects that will improve officer safety through fitness and training and upgrades to Boulder Police Department’s Public Safety Building parking lot perimeter fencing to provide officer and employee safety.

Obstacle Course - $5,039 grant amount. Officer training and fitness are foundational to officer safety. Because the City of Boulder prides itself on keeping its officers fully trained and in the best shape to do the job, this funding will be used to upgrade our current obstacle course. The current obstacle course needs to be assembled and disassembled for each use. Because of this, the course has become structurally unsound and in need of an upgrade. With this grant funding, the department will build a permanent obstacle course that can be used at a moment’s notice without assembling or disassembling, saving valuable employee time. This obstacle course will be used for testing police applicants and a will serve as a valuable tool as we move towards integrating fitness standards into our current police officer workforce.

Safety Upgrade to Public Safety Building (PSB) Parking Lot Perimeter Fencing - $32,500 grant amount. Over the past few years, there have been several incidents and incursions into the secured area around the PSB. Sometimes these incursions have resulted in crimes such as criminal mischief including flat tires or other damage. Other times, the intent of the trespassers was not determined and sometimes they were never caught or contacted. The PSB has secured areas on the north, west and south sides of the building which is surrounded by a variety of gates and fences.

Although the fencing around some of the perimeter is not overly difficult to climb, we believe some of the willingness of potential trespassers to cross into the area is due to the easy visibility into the lot and being able to determine if employees are present prior to making the decision to enter. The department proposes to hire a contractor to install a PVC screening system on the existing fence surrounding the parking lot. The installation of this material on the exterior fence of the parking areas will not only block the view of non-public areas of our parking lots, but it will also make employees less susceptible to observation and possible ambush. It will increase the safety of all employees, both sworn and civilian, when using these areas.

This project also includes replacing most of the existing fence posts on the chain link part of the enclosure otherwise the existing fence will not support the wind load for the area. If the product is installed without additional and larger diameter posts, it will fail (blow over) due to wind force once the product is installed.

In addition, the project includes securing the parking lot vehicle entry/exit gates. The three sliding gates can be easily pushed away from the closing posts when in the closed position which allows for easy entry. The gates will be secured by installing gate guides on the three sliding gates thereby preventing entry at these points.

LONGMONT POLICE DEPARTMENT: allocated $32,830* for the following:

Longmont Ending Violence Initiative (LEVI)
This grant will partially fund coordinator and program costs for the City of Longmont’s Longmont Ending Violence Initiative (LEVI). Domestic violence (DV) is an insidious crime that commands more and more time, personnel, and financial assistance from the Longmont Police Department. It is the number one crime in Longmont. LEVI plays an integral part in the community’s efforts to address and reduce the occurrences of domestic violence in the Longmont community. Many victims, family, and friends depend upon these services.
 

This initiative encompasses three main goals:
• domestic violence prevention/education
• domestic violence public information
• easy access to domestic violence services for victims.

Funding will be used for the following:

LEVI Project Coordinator - The grant will cover 48.25% of one part-time project coordinator (approximately 753 hours annually) including 7.65% in fringe benefits (Social Security and Medicare). The project coordinators will manage, coordinate, and evaluate the implementation of the LEVI Program. The total cost for personnel is $29,981.

Programmatic Costs – Funding will be used to create and maintain community-wide domestic violence prevention/education materials. This funding will be used to purchase printed materials for Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month as well as other prevention/education and public information events. Funding will also be used to support activities (website, newsletters) and memberships to state domestic violence and victim assistance agencies. Total grant funded amount for programmatic costs is $2,849.

*Administrative Costs – Per the Bureau of Justice Statistics allocation list, City of Longmont’s allocation was $38,623. The City of Boulder is charging City of Longmont 15% of their allocation to manage the grant over its term. Total grant funded amount for administrative costs is $5,793. The City of Boulder will use this amount to purchase equipment under this grant and is included in their amounts above.