OTTUMWA — The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, through Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. announced that it will award the Ottumwa Police Department a micro-grant for body-worn cameras.  This is part of a group of awards being made to 265 small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies for body-worn cameras. The announcement provides $7.1 million to agencies including 183 municipal law enforcement agencies, 64 rural Sheriffs’ departments and county police agencies, 6 tribes, and 12 other agencies across 44 states. These awards are in addition to the over $10 million that was awarded in 2022 for body-worn cameras to small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

This award will make it possible for our agency to provide a higher level of transparency, accountability and safety to the citizens of Ottumwa.  The police department will receive reimbursement funds to cover 50% of the cost to purchase 40 body worn cameras that will be available to every officer on the department.  The amount of the grant funds available to the department will be $21,930.    

“Body-worn cameras are a vital tool for law enforcement agencies to increase accountability and build trust with the communities they serve,” said BJA Director Karhlton F. Moore. “This micro-grant program for small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies streamlines the federal grant process and provides agencies with the resources to purchase body-worn cameras for their law enforcement officers.”

BJA selected Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. (JSS) to administer a competitive micro-grant program to small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies seeking to initiate or expand a body-worn camera program and provide customized training and technical assistance to micro-grantees through a cooperative agreement.

“We were able to fund approximately 40 percent of the applications from across the country through this competitive microgrant program, bringing the total number of agencies offered awards to 683 agencies,” JSS Project Director Dr. Shellie Solomon said. “We saw an increased number of awards for 22 states including Illinois, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Kansas over the prior years, demonstrating the widespread interest in enhancing protection for both officers and citizens.”  

For more information about the body-worn camera micro-grant program and a list of the agencies receiving funds, please visit https://www.srtbwc.com.