Davenport Police Department Awarded $700,000 Grant

The Davenport Police Department has been awarded a nearly $700,000 grant from the Department of Justice.

The Strategies for Policing Innovations grant provides funding to law enforcement agencies to identify innovative and evidence-based strategies to tackle chronic crime in their jurisdictions.

With the grant, DPD will create a new crime analysis division to "more effectively and efficiently collect and analyze data".

During the press conference, officials addressed the rise in gun violence and steps they are taking to mitigate the violence.  Those include:

• The creation of a new Gun Crime Unit to focus specifically on investigating gun crimes.
• The purchase of a NIBIN system to link shell casings to firearms and provide leads for the Gun Crime Unit to follow up on.
• The reorganization of the department to reallocate resources to the patrol and investigation divisions.

So far in 2020, DPD has seized 266 firearms (72% of which had been used in a criminal offense) and 269 charges for gun related offenses have been filed.

“The men and women of the Davenport Police Department have worked tirelessly over the past year as our community has seen a rise in gun violence. We are excited that this grant enhance and expand the analytical capabilities in the department to more effectively deal with gun crime in our community,” said Mayor Mike Matson.

Read the full release from the city of Davenport here.