City Commission Approves Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant

Marianna, Fla. - Marianna Police Department Captain Tyler Scarborough briefed city commissioners on the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant and how the process works. He explained that the funding is drawn from unused grant dollars collected by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“Basically what this is, is a residual grant that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement just puts out,” he said. “You pretty much just send Bureau Chief Cody Menacof a letter and say, this is what we need. And with grants over the past couple of years that people didn’t use all the grant funds, they just fund what departments may be in need of.”

Scarborough said the department requested a vehicle through the grant. He noted that the approval timeline can be unpredictable. “You submit the letter and six months down the road you might know if you get it or not. It's just one of those things that they get the money, they just pick and pay, we’ll fund this one,” he said. The department recently purchased a vehicle already approved by the commission, and the new request mirrors that one. “This grant is for the same type of vehicle from the same place from the same people. It’s identical to the one that we just received. Basically, they’re pretty much 100% funded, $57,289.32. We’ll purchase the vehicle, once we get it here, we send them the paperwork, and FDLE sends us the money for it.”

One commissioner joked, “You got more vehicles than you got people to drive them now.” Scarborough responded that he would be presenting a list of surplus vehicles for disposal at the next regular meeting. Another commissioner added, “Maybe you can find a grant that’ll buy you somebody to drive the vehicles that you got.”

Scarborough assured the board that staffing has recently improved. “We’re actually full and have been for about a month now,” he said. “It’s actually looking up for us. It really is.” Commissioner Williams asked whether a couple of positions remained frozen. Scarborough confirmed that they were. “Yes, from years ago. There’s still two frozen from that. But our typical 17 sworn, there were actually 19 sworn, and then those two got frozen. What we’ve been operating with for the last 12 years or so is 17. We’re at 17 right now.”

Commissioner Hamilton moved that the city apply for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously, 5–0.