Tempe police to use $300K federal grant for tools, training
Nov 26, 2014, 5:52 AM | Updated: 5:52 am
PHOENIX — The Tempe Police Department has received a large grant from the federal government that the department said it hopes will help prevent crime in the city.
The department was recently awarded $300,000 from the Department of Justice that will go toward better tools, technology and training to help the department better analyze crime data in the city.
“This will enable us to enhance the information that we already have … particularly when we have crime trends … in the early stages of identifying those,” Officer Molly Enright said.
Enright said the grant will also be used to help share crime data across multiple agencies to create a more cooperative law enforcement network in the Valley.
The additional training, technology and communication amongst crime analysts and officers could help police respond to emerging trends and issues faster. That, in turn, could help prevent some crimes.
“The faster that we can gather information, process information and analyze information in a way that we can use it to deter crimes, that is what is going to keep people safe,” Enright said.