LAW AGENCIES SEEK GRANT FOR BORDER CRIME

EL PASO -- The city Police Department is teaming up with a handful of
other law enforcement agencies to seek a $5 million federal grant to
fight crime along the border.

The city's police, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and police in
Socorro and Horizon City plan to apply for an Operation Stonegarden
grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The grant money will pay for police overtime for extra patrols to
combat drug smuggling, gangs, money laundering, auto thefts or other
crimes along the border, Assistant Police Chief Jerome Johnson said.

The money will not be used for immigration enforcement, he
said.

"We'll be looking for guns, narcotics and money related to drug
activities," Johnson said.

The local agencies would share the grant money. No local match is
required.

The City Council is being asked today to approve a joint application
for the grant.

"Any money we receive is a good thing," Johnson said. "It will benefit
our department and the citizens."

The El Paso Police Department is also asking the council to allow it
to spend $66,000 of federal grant money to buy four bomb suits, four
helmets and two searchlights that attach to the helmets.

The purchase will give the city's bomb squad a greater ability to
respond to two or three simultaneous incidents, Johnson said.

The purchase will be paid for with Urban Area Security Initiative
grant money. If approved, the equipment would be bought from Allen
Vanguard Technology Inc., based in Canada.