The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office was recently awarded over $400,000 in justice grants from the Office of the Texas Governor.

The justice grants will support five programs and initiatives that are of vital importance to the Sheriff’s Office, including a full-time domestic violence investigator, a victim services liaison in the Criminal Investigations Division, technological equipment for the Patrol Division, detention radios, and Individualized First Aid Kits (IFAKs) needed by field operations personnel. The IFAKs contain tourniquets, gauze and bandages, Quikclot® agents, shears, and other items needed to render immediate aid for injuries.

Sheriff’s motorcycle patrol deputies will receive electronic equipment to wear on their helmets to enhance communication without needing hand movements. Similarly, Toughbook® computers will enable deputies to access records management systems and enter reports directly into the database system.

The grants also fund the purchase of mobile Automated Fingerprint Information Systems to allow investigators and patrol deputies to immediately analyze suspect fingerprints at any crime scene or traffic stop where identity is an issue. Within an immediate time period, a suspect’s true identity will be known without any need to transport the person to a detention facility.

“These tools of our trade are of vital importance to our office and support our mission to protect the citizens of Fort Bend County,” said Sheriff Eric Fagan.

This funding was made available by the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program developed by the U.S. Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Assistance. The grants fund a broad range of activities and initiatives that emphasize breaking the cycle of violent crime and substance abuse, holding offenders accountable, and reinforcing law enforcement efforts in areas such as enhanced technology and information-sharing between agencies.

This JAG Program was named after New York City Police Officer Edward R. Byrne, who was assassinated in 1988 as he sat in a patrol vehicle guarding a drug crime witness. At about 3:30 a.m. on February 26, 1988, members of a drug gang approached his vehicle and ambushed him at the request of a jailed drug kingpin who wanted a police officer killed. In honor of Officer Byrne, the Justice Department seeks to make communities safer and better places to live and work.