The Fairfax County Police Department will accept grant moneys, if awarded, to finance the purchase of license-plate-reading (LPR) equipment and explosive-ordnance-disposal robots, following expected authorization June 27 from the Board of Supervisors.
The department will apply for, and accept if received, $241,500 in funding from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services’ fiscal year 2023 Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program to purchase five LPR speed trailers, 44 LPR cameras and three mobile LPR cameras. The equipment, which has helped county police solve a bunch of recent crimes, is intended especially to combat a rise in violent carjackings and stolen vehicles, police said.
The grant, which requires neither a local cash match nor the creation of any new positions, will run from Sept. 1 this year to Sept. 30, 2024. Because of the May 26 application deadline, county staff submitted the required paperwork pending the Board of Supervisors’ approval. Staff informed the board May 11 about the intent to apply for the grant.
According to a study conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, more than 70 percent of crime is associated with a vehicle.
County police have been using LPR equipment since 2008 to identify stolen vehicles and license plates, wanted persons and vehicle involved in felonies. The department currently has 20 license-plate readers and nine mobile readers.
Just since Nov. 1, 2022, county police have used LPR systems to recover 34 stolen vehicles with a combined value of more than $735,000. In that same period, county police used the equipment to find five missing people and recover 11 firearms, most of which had been stolen and two of which had been modified for automatic fire.
Supervisors on June 27 also were expected to authorize county police to apply for, and accept if received, $1 million in grant funds to replace two outdated robots now being used by the police department’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Section.
The funds would be made available by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services using federal dollars.
Replacing the old robots better will allow the EOD Section to inspect, evaluate and manipulate a potential improvised explosive device at a distance.
This grant would not necessitate any new positions or a local cash match.
