The Chattanooga City Council will vote on authorizing the department's application during its meeting Tuesday. The resolution says the grant would fund the purchase of "software and equipment for law enforcement and proven crime prevention."
Asked for more details, department spokeswoman Sydney Hamon said in an email Monday that the office is writing the grant application.
"The state has not approved anything yet, so we will not be going into too much detail until everything is finalized," she said. "Look for more information after the application is submitted and the state awards the money."
The governor's office announced in October that it was creating a $100 million violent crime intervention fund and invited local law enforcement agencies in Tennessee to apply. The funding was included in the state's fiscal year 2023 budget.
According to a news release, law enforcement agencies can use the money for evidence-based crime intervention models, hiring and training of specialized violence crime units, the purchase of technology and equipment and law enforcement-led partnerships with community organizations. Law enforcement organizations can apply for grant funding through January, the release said.
"As Americans face rising crime nationwide, Tennessee is equipping law enforcement with the tools needed to keep every community safe," Lee said in the October release.
"Unprecedented times call for unprecedented support," Lee said. "I invite all police departments and sheriff's offices to engage this opportunity so the state can thoughtfully invest these dollars in proven methods that will curb violent crime and strengthen public safety. Every Tennessean deserves to feel safe in their community, and our local law enforcement agencies deserve access to the resources needed to deliver that quality of life."
Between 2010 and 2020, the rate of violent crime offenses per 100,000 people in Tennessee stayed largely between 600 and 650, but it bumped up from 599 in 2019 to 673 in 2020, according to the FBI's online crime data.
Across the U.S., all instances of violent crime have stayed between 350 and 400 per 100,000 people during the same 10-year window.
© 2023 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
