Paul Sandy, City of Cortland chief of police. (Photo provided by Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).
City of Cortland officials recently submitted an application for grant funding that will help the local police department upgrade its technology and equipment.
The city is requesting $750,000 through the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services’ Law Enforcement Technology grant program (LETECH). The state has set aside $50,000,000 for LETECH to help law enforcement agencies cover costs on equipment and software.
“The grant opportunities provide funding for law enforcement agencies to fund specific technologies and various types of equipment to help keep the community and law enforcement partners safe,” stated in an agenda item from a special Common Council meeting on Oct. 31.
City police chief Paul Sandy said his department is in need of new body cams, in-car cameras, radios, laptops inside each police vehicle and more.
Sandy noted that this grant is typically awarded to smaller, rural law enforcement agencies.
“Grants are few and far between, but this (LETECH grant) was a good fit,” Sandy said. More importantly, Sandy added, this grant program doesn’t have a required local match.
Sandy noted the biggest motivating factor in applying for LETECH grant funding is due to the large purchases that city police have to make in replacements.
“It’s all aging out and the software is bad,” Sandy said. “They’re all large purchases that we can’t build into a budget.”
Sandy anticipates new body cams and in-car cameras will cost around $300,000, about $172,000 for radios and between $46,000-50,000 for laptops.
“Technology ages out. We’re at a point now where everything is aging,” Sandy said. “We’re looking at ways of replacing things.”
The grant program also provides a “perpetual replacement cycle.” This allows city police to replace body cams every 2-3 years and in-car cameras every five years.
“This program seems to be the most viable and most fiscally sound for the taxpayer,” Sandy said.
According to a packet detailing the LETECH grant program, award winners will be announced around Jan. 17 (2024).
Information on the state’s LETECH grant program can be found here.
