FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2001
CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

HODGES ANNOUNCES GRANTS TO ASSIST CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES

Columbia – Gov. Jim Hodges has announced grants to state agencies and local governments to decrease violence and drug-related crime by maintaining school resource officers in middle and high schools, funding drug courts and improving the criminal justice system throughout the state.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety's Office of Justice Programs will administer these grant programs on behalf of the Governor's Office.

"The decrease in the number of violent crimes across South Carolina is encouraging," Hodges said. "However, our rates of domestic violence, assault and other serious crime are still far too high. These grant awards will support innovative programs to continue to reduce crime."

These grants represent a portion of the $7,156,362 awarded to the South Carolina Governor's Office in 2000 by the U.S. Justice Department under the Drug Control and System Improvement Program. Under federal guidelines, agencies may use these funds for such purposes as hiring and training law enforcement officers and support personnel, providing expenses for training, purchasing equipment to improve criminal justice record keeping systems, and establishing programs focusing on court delay reduction, school safety, narcotics operations, domestic violence and child/elder abuse investigations.

The following agencies received grants:

Implementing Agency Project Title

Amount Received
Greenville Department of
Community Services		 Drug Analysis Laboratory Enhancement

$45,525
McColl Police Department School Resource Officer

51,695
Ninth Circuit Solicitor's Office Child Abuse Investigator

51,763

Georgetown Police Department School Resource Officer

57,388
Lancaster Police Department Records Management System Improvement

100,137

South Carolina Department of Public Safety-Criminal Justice Academy Public Safety Surveillance Vehicle

101,815
Richland County Sheriff's Office Forensic Laboratory Expansion Services

185,623
South Carolina Department of Public Safety-Criminal Justice Academy AFIS Workstation Training Program

112,125

123/OJP/SG/2001

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