One key element to creating communities with stable property values is public safety. That's why it is good news for all homeowners in James City County that at Tuesday night's meeting officials will accept more than $74,000 in grand funding for the police department. According to the Daily Press the grant funding will be used to buy computer equipment and protective equipment for officers.

"The James City County Board of Supervisors is set to accept more than $74,000 in grant funding for its police department when it meets tonight.

Included on the meeting's consent agenda — items typically viewed as noncontroversial — are several grant awards.

The county's police department has been awarded a $13,446 Justice Assistance Grant, police Chief Emmett Harmon wrote in a memo to the board. The funds, which require no local match, will be used to buy computer equipment for the department's Community Services Unit.

The police department has also landed a $61,300 Port Security Grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the federal stimulus package. The funds, which also require no local match, will be used to buy protective equipment for officers that use inflatable boats to patrol the county's waterways, Harmon wrote. The funding will allow the department to continue expanding its marine patrol and special weapons and tactics units, he said."

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