The state has awarded the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office over $1 million to hire more deputies and jailers. The governor’s office announced the public safety grant award Thursday. By hiring more employees, the sheriff’s office hopes to ease the strain on current staff.
Stephens County’s $1,185,157 grant is among the largest from the governor’s office in this latest round of funding. In all, 118 agencies across the state received funding. The grants are paid for by the American Rescue Plan Act.
The governor’s office also awarded grants to four other Northeast Georgia law enforcement agencies. Those agencies include the police departments in Athens-Clarke County, Commerce, Danielsville, and the White County Sheriff’s Office.
These five regional agencies received a combined total of $3 million in ARPA-funded grants.
Body armor protection
White County received a $62,700 grant to provide hard-plated armor, carriers, and ballistic helmets in kits to certified officers.
“This body armor is going to be for all of our sworn personnel, patrol guys, investigators, court service guys; everybody will be able to get this armor,” White County Sheriff Rick Kelley told WRWH News.
Kelley says the Level 4 armor will protect personnel against rifle rounds.
“That’s something we were wanting all of our guys to have,” Kelley said.
“This grant will help provide those that are willing to run to danger in protection of others useful resources to keep our communities in State House District 9 safe,” said State Rep. Will Wade.
District 51 State Senator Steve Gooch helped secure the grant for White County. He said he’s grateful for the governor’s support.
“I have long been a strong supporter of men and women in law enforcement. I will continuously strive to help them protect our citizens and send the message that criminals are not welcome in our communities,” said Gooch.
Investing in staffing and crime reduction
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department received the largest grant of any Northeast Georgia agency, totaling $1,650,000. The department plans to use the money for employee recruitment and retention incentives.
The Commerce Police Department will use the $79,310 it received to “implement 21st-century policing intelligence-led strategies to reduce crime and enhance the quality of life in the community,” officials say.
And the Danielsville Police Department in Madison County plans to use its $22,770 grant to support its Community Violence Department Reduction Program.
In total, the governor’s office announced $83 million in federally-subsidized ARPA public safety grants. The Biden Administration sent the money to the states after Democrats passed ARPA in 2021 to help ease the financial stresses of COVID. At the time, Republicans criticized the measure as “government overreach” and denounced the price tag. Still, GOP governors like Kemp are spending the funds, calling them “investments” in their states.
“These funds are being invested so that our brave first responders have the resources they need to fight back against dangerous criminals,” said Kemp when announcing these latest grants.
The governor said the money would be used as required by law for staffing, crime reduction programs, technology, and/or equipment.
GBI and DNR grants
Athens-Clarke County and Stephens County were among 32 local agencies and two state agencies that received grants in excess of $1 million.
The governor’s office awarded the Georgia Bureau of Investigation $1.4 million. The agency will use the money to buy investigative equipment it will distribute throughout the state. The GBI says the equipment will aid agents in more effectively and efficiently removing illegal firearms from communities.
And the governor’s office also awarded a public safety grant to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for just over $1 million. The agency says it will use the funds to develop and maintain a statewide computer-aided dispatch and records management system.
