The Kewanee Police Department was recently awarded a $200,000 Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative (RVCRI) grant. The funding will be provided over the next two years and will support a program to help curb violent crime associated with the narcotics trade in the Kewanee area while also allowing the department to implement an initiative called the Drug and Alcohol Addiction Response Team (DAART).

The mission of DAART is to provide a direct and sustained approach to promote mental well-being, prevent substance addiction and support treatment and recovery opportunities for community members coping with mental health disorders, mental health crises and drug and alcohol dependence. The response team will be a collaboration with many community and regional stakeholders including Henry and Stark County Health Departments, Henry County Court Services, Bridgeway and the Kewanee Commission on Human Relations.

The KPD applied for the federal grant with hopes to fund the agency’s dual-purpose strategy of increasing enforcement on violent criminals involved in the drug trade while also providing treatment solutions for individuals suffering from mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction or a combination of both. The funds will now make that initiative a reality.

The primary goal is to get violent criminals off the street while simultaneously providing guidance and treatment options to community members that are suffering from addiction and mental health issues.

Grant funds will be used to help pay for salary costs for mental health counselors, detectives assigned to DAART, vehicle costs, automatic license plate reader cameras, training and travel-related expenses for the program.

The RVCRI is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (USDOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and administered by the National Policing Institute and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), with support from the Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association (SREELA).