To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Tyler Brown, Sheriff
Prepared By:
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Travis Stewart, Captain, Investigations
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Subject:
title
2:45 PM *CATPA auto theft prevention grant and LEAGP assistance grant applications.
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
The Sheriff’s Office requests the Board of County Commissioners authorize our application to the CATPA (Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority) and LEAGP (Law Enforcement Assistance Grant Program) grants.
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Background and Discussion: Over the last few years, auto theft crime in our service area has dramatically increased. With that, the cases that our agency is required to investigate have also continued to rise. Staffing levels however have not kept up with the increase in workload. In an effort to combat this dynamic, we have partnered with The FLOCK Camera Company to get 25 cameras strategically installed throughout the county and City of Centennial to monitor the thoroughfares that lead into and out of our service area. These cameras have proven to be very effective in combating auto theft as they notify deputies in the area of active stolen vehicles and their direction of travel. Although helpful, these cameras are also expensive and cost our agency $75,000/year to maintain. This cost is a heavy burden on our budget and, for 2025, we were able to get seizure funds approved to handle this cost.
Another useful tool we have used to identify suspects and associates involved in auto theft rings is the Nighthawk software tool. This helps us to quickly comb through cellular and social media data to identify wanted subjects and their associates that would otherwise take an investigator hundreds of hours to accomplish. Again, this helpful software comes with a cost of $25,000/year and is a difficult software platform to pay for.
In an effort to help cover the above costs for the coming year, the Investigations Section has applied for the CATPA auto theft prevention grant. We will be asking for $105,000 to cover the cost of the FLOCK cameras, Nighthawk software and training/travel for 2 investigators to attend the CATPA Conference. There are no matching funds required from Arapahoe County, nor any personnel or assets that would require IG rents.
We are also requesting approval to apply for the LEAGP grant, which is a federal financial assistance grant. This grant, if awarded, would be used to cover the LIMU lease, which is an offsite building that houses our Special Investigations Unit, and to cover our active Grey Key software license for 2026. The LIMU lease is approximately $41,000 a year and the Grey Key software, which assists our computer forensic investigator with cell phone investigations, is approximately $20,000. We have spoken with the IT Department about the software licenses, and they approve/support our intent to obtain grant funds for renewal. As with CATPA, there are no matching funds required from Arapahoe County and no personnel or assets requested.
Alternatives: The alternative is to deny this request. Doing so would mean that the agency would incur the cost of the cameras, software purchases, LIMU lease and training. This would also likely mean not purchasing one or more of these items to stay within budget constraints.
Fiscal Impact: There is no financial impact to the County.
Alignment with Strategic Plan:
☒Be fiscally sustainable
☒Provide essential and mandated service
☒Be community focused
Concurrence: The Public Safety Bureau, Investigations Section Chain of Command support the use of this agreement. The IT Department also concurs with this grant.