Lisle Police Department Awarded Grant Funding For Body-Worn Cameras

LISLE, IL — The Lisle Police Department will receive grant funding totaling $78,000 that will allow the agency to provide body-worn cameras for its officers, the department announced on Thursday.

The grant was made possible through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, through Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. The Lisle Police Department's award was a micro-grant for the cameras and is part of a group of awards being made to 265 small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies for body-worn cameras, the agency said.

The grant funding provides $7.1 million to agencies, including 183 municipal law enforcement agencies, 64 rural Sheriffs’ departments and county police agencies, 6 tribes, and 12 other agencies across 44 states.

“This award will make it possible for our agency to provide a higher level of transparency, accountability, and safety to the residents of Lisle,” Lisle Chief of Police Kevin Licko said in a statement issued in a news release. “Further, the purchase and use of body-worn cameras will comply with the State of Illinois SAFE-T Act, which mandates body-worn cameras be implemented by January 1, 2025.”

BJA selected Justice & Security Strategies, Inc. (JSS) to administer a competitive micro-grant program to small, rural, and tribal law enforcement agencies seeking to initiate or expand a body-worn camera program and provide customized training and technical assistance to micro-grantees through a cooperative agreement, the release said.

“We were able to fund approximately 40 percent of the applications from across the country through this competitive microgrant program, bringing the total number of agencies offered awards to 683 agencies,” JSS Project Director Dr. Shellie Solomon said in the release. “We saw an increased number of awards for 22 states, including Illinois, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Kansas over the prior years, demonstrating the widespread interest in enhancing protection for both officers and citizens.”