The foley (AL) police department would like to focus this request on three areas: training, investigation & apprehension

The City of Foley, Alabama was awarded a $726,000 Project Grant by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Congressionally Recommended Awards program (CFDA 16.753). The funding will support the Foley Police Department's efforts to enhance training, investigation, and apprehension capabilities. Key initiatives include:

• Expanding the department's existing VirTra training simulator system to provide more realistic scenario-based training for officers.
• Acquiring specialized investigative equipment such as a NIBIN Brass Trax system, crime scene mapping software, a bloodhound K-9, and breaching rams to improve evidence collection and suspect tracking.
• Purchasing a full-body scanner for the city jail to enhance inmate screening and safety for corrections officers.

The grant award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026, supporting the Foley Police Department's strategic efforts to strengthen public safety and modernize its criminal justice capabilities serving a growing community of over 23,000 residents.

The items requested blend to build stronger cases and provide increased protection to our community and staff. The foley police departmentwasrecently awarded a cops grant to purchase a virtra training simulator. Virtra provides the most intense, immersive, and realistic simulation solutions so officers can prepare for the unexpected. An expansion would allow for maximum realism, with complex and extensive branching options that unfold entirely based on the users decisions. The police department is requesting $181,966.05 to expand the existing virtra system. Foleys current population is over 23,000 with the county population now exceeding 245,000. Crime has increased on pace with our population. To train our staff to properly investigate this additional crime, we are requesting five items: nibins brass trax $225,560.00, crime scene mapping system $85,000.00, bloodhound K9 $15,000.00, ATV trailer $6,500.00, and breaching rams $3,974.95. The brass trax system and software will allow fired cartridge casings to be analyzed and compared to other casings nationwide. This will be the first in baldwin county and can be shared by thirteen local agencies. The faro crime scene mapping software will allow US to capture complete, accurate views of crime scenes and digitize the details of a building in order to develop a safety plan for emergencies. The bloodhound K9 will be used to track suspects and locate missing persons. The police department has an ATV to use in conjunction with the bloodhound, but needs a trailer to transport the ATV to crime scenes and track with the K9. Once the individuals have been tracked to a location, the breaching rams may be needed to enter a structure to search for suspects. Once arrests have been made in an investigation, suspects are transported to our jail. Currently when an inmate is brought into the facility, they are searched for weapons, drugs, and other contraband. To better protect our corrections officers, as well as all other inmates, we are requesting to purchase a full body scanner for $207,999.00. The system can detect concealed weapons, explosives, or other prohibited items. If allowed into our jail undetected, these items could cause a range of dangerous events.