The El Dorado City Council signed off on applications for federal grants that, if approved, will assist the El Dorado Police Department in purchasing new equipment, some of which will help protect officers’ health.
EPD Chief Kenny Hickman said the applications for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, commonly known as JAG, has an annual cycle.
The grant is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and is named after Edward Byrne, a New York City police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1988 while protecting a witness who had agreed to testify in a drug case.
Hickman explained that the grant award would be divided in a 60/40 split with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, with the EPD receiving the larger percentage of about $8,000.
“It doesn’t require any matching funds,” he said, adding that the signatures of city officials are required for grant applications.
If the grant is approved, Hickman said the funds will be used to purchase gas masks, parallax rifle scopes and load-bearing vests.
“There’s a lot of reasoning behind why the patrol officers are wearing the load-bearing vests. Officers, for years, have had a lot of back problems because of the weight of that (duty) belt,” Hickman said.
“When you distribute the weight of some of that equipment across that load-bearing vest, it gives new life to their backs,” he explained. “Also, in down times when they’re doing reports and stuff, they can remove that vest and cool off and it helps a lot.”
He said law enforcement agencies across the country are shifting to load-bearing vests, noting that the vests offer more comfort and cost less when paired with the complementary uniform.
Hickman said the EPD plans to restock its inventory, which is nearly depleted, to outfit new officers with the load-bearing vests.
“We’ve, so far, outfitted virtually everything we have through grants from last year and we’re going to buy 10 of those load-bearing vests to start building up our reserve,” the police chief said.
He pointed to Council Member Mike Rice, a former law enforcement officer with the EPD and 13th Judicial Drug Task Force, saying, “Councilman Rice can tell you — that thing’s heavy and it begins to press on your back.”
“You had me at less back pain. Good Lord!” Rice joked later.
Grant funds would also be used to replace aging and rotting gas masks, Hickman said.
“The last time that we used them was when they had one of the spills at one of the (local) chemical plants and there was a cloud and we had to actually seal off roadways where there was a cloud of who knew what was in it,” he said, adding, “The seals are getting bad so we’re going to cycle some of those out and replace the worst of those.”
Ten new parrallax scopes will also be included in the grant budget.
Hickman said the sights are more functional, allow for quicker target acquisition and are better in dark, low-light situations.