$1.7 million in State Grants Won by Salinas PD, Sheriffs Department, and Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and King City PDs
To be used to strengthen police-community relations
Salinas, CA -- In support of their efforts to strengthen police-community relations, the Salinas Police Department and the Monterey County Sheriffs Department have been given an $850,000 grant by the California Board of State and Community Corrections. At the same time, four South County police departments also earned the maximum BSCC grant of $850,000, through a joint application from Four Cities for Peace, whose members are
Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield & King City.
That means that a total of $1.7 million have been brought to the Salinas Valley in support of stronger bonds between law enforcement officers and the people they serve.
The Salinas PD and the Sheriffs Department will use their grant money for the "Why'd You Stop Me" educational program, as described in a BSCC press release:
Program elements will focus on education through the "Why'd You Stop Me" curriculum, increasing community trust, satisfaction, and cooperation with law enforcement; increasing positive two-way interactions and engagement between the community and police; and education and training for law enforcement on reducing acts of violence between the public and police
The application by the Salinas PD and the County Sheriff's Office was ranked first among 45 received by the BSCC.
Sun Street Centers and Partners for Peace will also receive funding to support the two agencies' implementation of WYSM. The Middlebury Institute for International Studies will be the program evaluator.The grant application by the Four Cities For Peace police departments was ranked fourth out of the 45. Those departments will deploy their grant funds this way:
Program elements will support a regional approach in rural California that will mold a culture of trust and inclusion between law enforcement agents and community members, reduce crime, increase law enforcement's understanding of the cultural values of the communities they serve, train law enforcement officers in the area of mental health and implementation of cultural competency and Spanish language education for law enforcement officers.
Partnering with the South County departments will be the Monterey County Behavioral Health Department for Crisis Intervention Training, Sun Street Centers for case management, Hartnell College and the National Coalition Building Institute for cultural competency training, and the County Health Department's Planning, Evaluation, and Policy (PEP) Unit for program evaluation.
# # #
|
