The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a grant from the poor, poor state. It will help the county hire and outfit a new deputy. The county and the sheriff’s department will partner to foot the unfunded part of the bill. In typical fashion, the grant uses state funds to pay for most of the costs in the first year, but the state funding will be slowly decreased once the local government has “expanded its capacity.” The county hopes to pay its part of the bill in the future with proceeds from drug confiscations.
In exchange, the sheriff’s office must offer educational programs at Polk County schools, focusing particularly on the need not to text and/or drink and drive. It must also reduce traffic accidents by 10% (Don’t ask about baselines; this is government.) and set up monthly vehicle checkpoints. One reason Polk County was selected was because of its past cooperation with the state in setting up vehicle checkpoints.
