The Owensville Police Department (OPD) is in the running for a $28,985.50 grant through the Blue Shield Program according to Police Chief Scott Griffith.

In his report to the Owensville Board of Aldermen during their July 20 meeting, Griffith reported that now that the city has the Blue Shield designation, he has been able to apply for grant funding that will acquire already budgeted items including vests and a side-by-side.

OPD sought and received approval for a gray, four-seater Polaris Ranger through a state bid that was the low bid of three at $26,124.

While the grant is not approved yet, Griffith stated that once approved, the purchase will be made by May 2027.

The remaining funding will be allotted to partially cover the purchase of vests, which must be replaced every five years.

After grant funding is applied, $2,800 will remain and will come out of the law enforcement tax fund. Planned updates to the OPD Tahoe will come out of the same fund.

Griffith also shared with the Board that a new door button has been installed at the OPD facility as part of the upgrade to the new phone system.

He also recently reported that the city is currently coming in under budget for security coverage at the fair. As of July 6, OPD only needed the nine approved applications for fair security and officers will be commissioned the Wednesday and Thursday before the fair.

Additionally, Walmart will make a $1,000 contribution to the Shop With a Hero program this year.

A total of 332 dispatched calls, traffic stops and all other assigned situations were reported for June, with 19 walk-ins at the facility, 20 summons issued through city court, 72 traffic stops and 34 total cases.

Traffic stops during the month of June totaled 71 with 10 citations issued, 50 warnings given, zero arrests made, no action taken on four, six other/handled by officer/completed and one with an unknown disposition.

Twenty city tickets were issued with four for stealing, two for speeding, one for failure to stop at a stop sign, two for no license, five for failure to register or expired plates, one peace disturbance, two trespassing and three for no insurance. Code enforcement reported one vehicle, four grass/clippings, and one trash or junk violation with six corrected with a warning and four issued a citation by OPD.