Public Safety Grants
After attending the Nashville training conference I thought that our drone program was headed in the right direction.
The program coordinator while I was in Nashville is no longer with the department. Prior to attending Nashille I was told that the program had a $12,000.00 budget for additional equipment. Today I found out that the program does not have a $12,000.00 budget for this year as there is no budget for the program. In addition, the 2024 budget was sent to the city commission for approval and had no budget for the program as well.
At this point the program will have to wait for the 2025 budget proposal before any new equipment is purchased.
I'm looking for some assistance on sources for public safety grants that I can hopefully get some funding for our program. I am looking for some help from you fine folks.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
Jeff -
It’s unfortunate you’ve found your program in this situation. Unfortunately there isn’t a magic bullet. Some have had luck with FEMA grants, sometimes in partnership with an emergency managers office, I was able to get an M30T kit through a state preparedness grant here in Oregon.
Get creative, I also funded two Mavic zooms back when they were new through an internal city grant for unfunded tech needs, and new technology. I wrote it as a “test the capability of zoom cameras on drones” since we had a couple on zoom drones.
Sorry I can’t directly point you to a specific grant.
Kyle