MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

In addition to his normal crime prevention and supervisory duties, Blacksburg Sgt. Nathan O'Dell now will be responsible for finding, applying for and administering state, federal and other grants to fund new equipment and staff.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Administrative assistant Deborah Atkins types hand-written police reports filed by police officers into a database in the Blacksburg Police Department. The department would like to use grant money to purchase laptop computers for patrol officers, eliminating the repetitive task of a paper report being typed in by the administrator.

BLACKSBURG -- Declining revenues. Increasing calls for service. More pressure on local law enforcement.

That's the cycle across Virginia and in Montgomery County as contracting local and state tax revenues bite ever larger chunks out of public-safety funding.

Last year, the Blacksburg Town Council raised meals taxes to add four sworn officers and one dispatcher to the police force -- the first new positions since 1994.

That was a help, but according to an internal staffing study completed in 2007, the department needs at least eight new officers and three dispatchers to meet critical needs.

Any hopes that more personnel could be added in the coming 2009-10 fiscal year were dashed early, as town officials continue to struggle with a $600,000 shortfall. That shortfall includes an overall 7 percent cut in state reimbursement for all local police.

So the Blacksburg Police Department, like many agencies across the state, is ramping up efforts to find grant funding to upgrade equipment and even hire new staff. Pursuing grant programs is not easy, though, and can itself put staffing pressure on agencies.

While grants are the lifeblood of law enforcement, "a lot of work goes into applying for and administering them," said Dana Schrad of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.

So Blacksburg -- similar to its neighbors Montgomery County and Christiansburg -- has designated a grants coordinator to ferret out funds to supplement the public safety budget.

In addition to his normal crime prevention and supervisory duties, Blacksburg Sgt. Nathan O'Dell now will be responsible for finding, applying for and administering state, federal and other grants.

In this budget climate, designating a grants coordinator "is almost a necessity," Blacksburg police spokesman Lt. Joe Davis said.

"All of our police chiefs have to be extremely creative to fund all but what you would consider the most basic law enforcement services," Schrad said.

Two sworn officers in the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office oversee administration of a cadre of state and federal grants that fund everything from overtime pay for traffic patrol to equipment needs, such as in-car cameras.

"We survive off grants," Sheriff Tommy Whitt said.

Christiansburg has had a civilian grants coordinator for the past five years, but the police department has regularly applied to various state and federal programs for at least 15 years, Chief Mark Sisson said.

And the tougher the local government budget gets, the more aggressively the department pursues grants.

"The public needs to know we're doing everything we can," Sisson said.

Over the past few months, Blacksburg has seen success in its grants program, winning more than $150,000 in funds to help replace aging equipment in its 911 call center and acquire new equipment for its emergency response team.

Together, Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg have qualified for $85,000 in state funds to study the feasibility of a regional 911 call center that could reduce costs for all area agencies, while improving communications during major emergencies.

With O'Dell now in place, Blacksburg is pursuing more grants to enhance efficiency of officers and even hire new ones.

The town is applying for a $488,000 Virginia Department of Emergency Management grant to install high-speed data terminals in police cars to take pressure off overworked dispatchers and keep patrol officers in the field while they file reports, O'Dell said.

The department also hopes to hire an additional police officer using federal stimulus money channeled through the U.S. Department of Justice. If successful, that $165,000 grant would pay the salary and benefits for one new police officer for three years, O'Dell said.

All grant funding can be fickle, however, and Schrad counsels agencies to work out backup plans, especially for hiring grants.

"We don't know for sure that the commitment to law enforcement funding is going to be here 24 months from here," Schrad said.

Your two cents

The Blacksburg Police Department wants suggestions on how to spend $49,973 in federal stimulus money allocated to the town through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

These funds can be used to combat violence against women, fight Internet crimes against children, improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, assist victims of crime or support youth mentoring.

Residents have until May 18 to send recommendations to ByrneJAGProgram@blacksburg.go v.