Over $3 million in grant money issued for drug prevention and community relations

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is awarding over $2.7 million in grant money to law enforcement agencies across the state.

According to the Aug. 2 announcement which came through a media release from DeWine’s office, the funds are for drug prevention education programs in public schools.

The $2,742.649 will be portioned out to 130 sheriff’s offices and police departments, including 17 in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties.

A requirement to getting the funds, according to the media release, is that they have to be used for the establishment or maintenance of drug abuse prevention education and awareness programs for students in the 2017-18 school year. Additionally those who receive the funding must include over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse prevention education into the programs.

“The abuse of prescription drugs is one of the primary reasons behind the current opiate epidemic in Ohio, which is why it’s important that students receive age-appropriate lessons about the dangers of these and other drugs at and early age,” DeWine said in the release.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) programs and school resource officer drug use prevention programs were eligible to apply for the grants provided the programs benefitting from the funds are conducted in cooperation with the public school superintendent of each school district where the program will take place.

In addition to the grant money for drug abuse prevention, more than $500,000 in grant money was awarded to 20 Ohio agencies from the Office of Criminal Justice Service.

According to a July 28 media release the grant recipients could receive up to $40,000 in the second round of Community-Police Relations funding.

The grant money is to assist with initiatives to improve relationships between communities and law enforcement agencies serving them.

Each agency that is awarded the funding has agreed to become certified through the Ohio Collaborative Law Enforcement Agency Certification, which is through the Ohio collaborative Community Police Advisory Board.

According the media release from OCJS, they have been more than 520 agencies with over 27,000 officers from all 88 of Ohio’s counties either certified or in the process of getting certified. This represents over 80 percent of all law enforcement officers in Ohio, the majority in metropolitan areas.

Part of the certification includes meeting standards set for the use of force, including deadly force and agency recruiting and hiring.

According to the media release, programs receiving the funding include: community policing initiatives, training, juvenilementoring programs, education and awareness tools and evidence based policing strategies.

For more information on Ohio Collaborative Community Police Advisory Board or the OCJS Ohio Community Police Relations Grant complete lists of grant programs and recipients, visit www.ocjs. ohio.gov.

For additional information on the Drug Use Prevention Education Grant and for a full list of recipients, visit www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov.

Grant Recipients include:

Cuyahoga County

• Euclid Police Dept. — $7,375.05

• Rocky River Police Dept. — $48,565

Geauga County

• Chardon Police Dept. — $2,927.49

• Geauga County Sheriff — $35,335

• Montville Police Dept. — $16,882.09 Lake County • Eastlake Police Dept. — $8,799

• Willowick Police Dept. — $4,796.55

Lorain County

• Avon Police Dept. — $7,136

• Lorain County Sheriff — $22,495.20

Recipients of Ohio Criminal Justice Service Grant include:

• Montville Township Police Department

• Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland