Grant Writing

The Croton Police are funded through the village’s annual budget.  During budget planing every line item requested undergoes intense scrutiny to protect local taxpayers.  But there is another stream of revenue available to our police.  By applying for state and federal grants our department can obtain equipment and funding to further protect our community. 

The task of grant writing used to be handled by the village Manager’s office but it has now been assumed by Officer Mark Fielding.  Officer Fielding’s applications are so well prepared NY State has contacted the village to complement the grant writer!

Croton has membership in Grants.gov which is the portal which allows the PD to see what opportunities exist. Past grants won have included, funding for Speed Awareness Week and Click it or Ticket (extra patrols) and National Child Safety Seat Week.  In fact, the grant includes some child seats available which can be given to families whose economic status might prevent purchasing one of their own.

Another grant received recently was for the No Empty Chair initiative from the Governors Traffic Safety Committee.  This program is aimed at teen drivers and is intended to get all teens to their High School graduation without an accident.

Chief Nikitopoulos has made a point of emphasizing the value that these successful grants have upon the budget and operation of CPD.

Other than a two hour class on grant writing Officer Fielding relies upon his native intelligence to win these grants for Croton.  Every dollar won in a grant is a savings for our local taxpayers.

This article was written by members of the Police Advisory Committee as part of the Community Information Project.