As crime has increased across the United States the Lake County Commissioners recognized the growing need for a stronger law enforcement presence across the townships. Recognizing the financial constraints of township government to address the immediate need for increased policing with limited revenue the Lake County Commissioners created a local COPS grant.
With the assistance of Clerk of Courts Faith Andrews they created a program to help immediately fund increased Sheriff’s Deputies in the townships by offering to provide a second deputy for every deputy added to current policing contracts. The program would continue to fund the additional deputy(s) for a period of four (4) years to enable enough time for the township to find alternative funding sources to assume the financial responsibility of the added deputies after four years.
Today the Perry Township Trustees announced that they would be the first township to take advantage of this localized grant program. The Perry Township Trustees explained that they would be hiring two (2) new deputies in a contract with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to patrol Perry Township. Additionally, they would accept the second two (2) deputy sheriffs paid for by the Commissioners to add to local patrol in Perry Township. Their intent would be to then explore alternative funding sources to increase localized patrol throughout their area.