Published: June 15, 2009 09:23 am      

Newton PD receives Project Safe Neighborhoods grant

By Jennifer Jacob Brown

jbrown@themeridianstar.com

The Newton Police Department will soon be catching up on law enforcement technology thanks to a $35,000 grant from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide initiative meant to reduce gun violence and gang crime.

NPD will use that grant to purchase a Live Scan fingerprinting system, which, NPD Chief Harvey Curry said, will help the police department identify criminals more quickly and more accurately.

"It's a major plus for the city of Newton," he said, "and I can do my job faster because it's at my disposal."

The Live Scan system will tell officers on the spot whether a person they've arrested has been arrested before or is wanted in another jurisdiction. It will also help them identify people who refuse to give their names.

Currently, the NPD sends ink prints to a crime lab for identification. The Live Scan system, Curry said, is quicker, eliminates the use of ink, and will help the NPD build up a database of people they have arrested. The system will also make that database available to other jurisdictions.

Curry said the Live Scan system will cost around $20,000 to $25,000, and that the NPD has not yet decided how to spend the additional $10,000 to $15,000 from the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hoesmann, who has been involved with Project Safe Neighborhoods, visited Newton Tuesday to announce the grant award.

Curry said the grant was awarded through the Department of Public Safety.

"We're real excited about getting out to Newton and excited for them to have the advantage of the federal funds," Hosemann said.

Hosemann said the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative is very broad-reaching, covering anything that can make neighborhoods safer, particularly for youth. He said deterring gang crime and crime committed by youth, making it safer to go the polls on election day, victim assistance, and crime-deterrent education are all concerns of Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Curry said the NPD recently received another grant through the Department of Public Safety - a $53,000 Katrina grant which was used to purchase and generator and will also be used to purchase a handicap accessible van to assist disabled people during disasters.