Governor DeWine Awards $3.9 Million to Support Local Law Enforcement

Press Release

Governor Mike DeWine today awarded $3.9 million to 16 local law enforcement agencies to help them strategically combat violence in their communities.

Governor DeWine announced the third round of his Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program while visiting Springfield this morning. The Springfield Police Division is receiving a grant of $305,206.94 to combat crime with new video technology and automatic license plate readers that will be used to quickly gather actionable intelligence to help investigate and solve incidents of gun violence in high-crime areas.

"To keep our communities safe, it's critical that our law enforcement agencies have the right tools to go after the small group of repeat offenders who illegally carry firearms with the sole intent of hurting people," said Governor DeWine. "By providing this support, we're helping our peace officers proactively prevent violence, and we're also helping law enforcement maintain the staffing levels they need to protect our communities."

"Springfield has experienced its best success when those in our community have partnered with neighbors to achieve shared goals," said Springfield Police Division Chief Lee Graf. "This grant will bolster local law enforcement efforts to maintain safety in our neighborhoods, and bring to justice those who seek to disrupt that peace."

In total, Governor DeWine will award approximately $58 million as part of the grant program in coming months. To date, the Governor has awarded $9.6 million to 44 Ohio law enforcement agencies to aid in their work to hold accountable the small number of criminals responsible for most violent crime in the state.

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