Harford County Sheriff's Office Applies For Federal Grant

BEL AIR, MD — The Harford County Sheriff's Office announced Monday that it had applied for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), which it intends to use for a new speed-data collection radar trailer with variable message sign (VMS), replacing a broken model, and a portable data collector. Both items are designed for traffic safety.

The sheriff's office was required to disclose publicly that it had applied for the grant, which is worth $26,389. According to its website, the JAG program is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to states and units of local government. It is awarded by the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

The sheriff's office is expected to find out if it will receive the grant by Oct. 1, at which point the office will order the new equipment.

"It's an expense that we don't have to use (local) taxpayer money for," Mike Crabbs, commander of the planning and research division for the Harford County Sherriff's Office, told Patch. "If there isn't money in the budget, and there's an unexpected expense that occurs, this grant coming up is a perfect opportunity to (address) it. "

The 6-foot by 8-foot speed data-collection trailer can be towed to different streets, where it performs multiple functions, according to Crabbs: informing motorists how fast they are going, and signaling if they are above the speed limit, allowing the police department to collect data about how many cars pass and how fast they are going, and detecting license plates, which can be useful if finding stolen vehicles.

The second device the sheriff's office plans to purchase, performs some of the same data-collection functions, but is smaller and attaches to street signs.

Crabbs said the devices are not used for generating speeding tickets, but can help officers know whether they should patrol a certain area looking for speeders.

"It lets us collect data about speeds, and at what times they are occurring," Crabbs said. "If there is a perception that there is a lot of speeding, we can determine if it is a problem and if we should conduct enforcement in the area.

"It's community driven as far as the location where we put the trailer. If we have an area where we've had crashes, we can put it out there. If it's a 40 mph zone, and you're doing 50, it flashes and notifies when you're going above the speed limit."

The trailer is battery operated and can be plugged in and charged. It also includes a solar panel that keeps the battery charged during the day.

The Edward Byrne Memorial grant program is named in honor of a 22-year-old New York City police officer who was assassinated by a violent drug gang as he sat on patrol in a marked police car.

The sheriff's office said that if any neighborhood or community organization wishes to review the grant application, it can contact the planning and research division at 410-836-5422.