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Several months ago, the Fort Dodge Community Foundation and the Webster County Sheriff's Office applied for a $72,000 federal grant for crime prevention programs.
The two organizations later received stunning news.
Instead of the sought-after $72,000, they would be receiving $200,000. And to top it off, there would be no local matching funds required.
The money from the U.S. Department of Justice will enable the Sheriff's Office to continue using technology that will help local law enforcement agencies access locked cellphones after obtaining search warrants.
The grant funding will also pay for outreach and educational efforts by the Fort Dodge – Webster County Safe Communities Coalition, which was started by the Community Foundation.
"We believe this two-year grant will provide us with opportunities to make a real impact in reducing crime and violence in our county," said Randy Kuhlman, the chief executive officer of the Community Foundation.
The foundation, he said, seeks to improve the quality of life in local communities. Crime obviously is detrimental to quality of life, he added.
"Safety is one of the big qualities needed to have a high quality of life in a community," he said.
While no one is entirely sure why the federal government awarded a grant that was so much bigger than what was applied for, Kuhlman said he suspects the various community outreach programs included in the proposal were a factor.
"Ours was really about engaging the community in the process," he said. "Ours was more of a community-based approach."
Technology
A portion of the grant money will be used by the Sheriff's Office to pay licensing fees for a software called GreyKey.
That software is used to access locked cellphones.
"We know how critical the GreyKey software is for enhancing investigations and timely evidence collection," Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener said.
The grant money will pay $21,000 in licensing fees for GreyKey in each of the next two years.
When local law enforcement agencies use GreyKey to collect evidence the process takes about a week and a half, according to Julie Piton, program coordinator for the Community Foundation. She said if a cellphone is sent to the state for examination, the process can take up to two years.
"The support of the Safe Communities Coalition will help us attack the increasing crime and violence from all angles, " Fleener said. "As violent crime continues to rise in many jurisdictions, rural communities are no exception."
Community involvement
The remaining grant money, about $80,000 a year, will be spent on the efforts of the Safe Communities Coalition to get citizens involved.
Piton said those efforts will include:
• Town hall meetings at which citizens can talk to Fleener and Fort Dodge Police Chief Dennis Quinn.
• A new substance abuse prevention effort in conjunction with local schools.
• A series of Parent Cafes at which parents can learn about topics like internet safety for their children.
• A new campaign called See Something, Say Something that will encourage residents to report anything that seems suspicious to police before a crime occurs.
• Neighborhood Watch programs.
Piton said the goal is "getting our community at large more engaged in becoming a safer community."