To approve a resolution No. 23-42 of the City Council of the City of Sugar Land, Texas, authorizing the submission of grant applications to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Fiscal Year 2024 Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) grant program; State of Texas for the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) traffic safety grants for Fiscal Year 2025 STEP comprehensive (STEP COMP), Fiscal Year 2025 STEP Commercial Motor Vehicle (STEP CMV), Fiscal Year 2025 STEP Impaired Driving Mobilization (STEP IMD), and Fiscal Year 2025 STEP Click it or Ticket (STEP CIOT); and designating the City Manager, or his designee, as authorized grant official to apply for, accept, reject, alter, or terminate the grant and to execute all grant-related documents.

Every year, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Justice Assistance) announce an open application process for state and local law enforcement agencies to apply for recurring grants such as STEP Grants and Bulletproof Vest Grants. Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) is a unique U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to provide a critical resource to state and local law enforcement to purchase armored vests that comply with the National Institute of Justice vest standards to protect the lives of law enforcement officers. Since 1999, the BVP program has awarded more than 13,000 jurisdictions a total of $522 million in federal funds to purchase over one million vests. The BPV Grant is a two-year long grant that provides up to 50% reimbursement of the cost of body armor.

STEP Grants allow local law enforcement agencies to receive reimbursement of overtime costs associated with traffic enforcement designed to reduce motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities in the State of Texas. The STEP Grants have an 80/20 match requirement. Officers conducting enforcement on a STEP-COMP grant will make enforcement of Impaired Driving, Occupant Protection, Speed, Intersection Traffic Control, and Distracted Driving their top priority during enforcement, although any traffic-related probable cause may be used to initiate a vehicle stop. The purpose of the Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) grant is to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving vehicles with a vehicle body type of “Semi-Trailer” or “Truck-Tractor”. STEP-COMP and STEP CMV are year-long grants. The Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM) grant is mainly focused on impaired drivers during mobilization periods (Christmas New Year, Spring Break, Independence Day, and Labor Day). The Click it or Ticket grant enforcement is mainly focused on seatbelt violations during mobilization periods (Memorial Day and/or Thanksgiving). The City of Sugar Land has applied, been awarded, and administered these grants for many years.

The Police Department follows the City Grant Pre-approval process to obtain the City Management’s approval before applying for each grant.

The Sugar Land Police Department requests the City Council to authorize the submission of grant applications to the State of Texas for the STEP Grants and to the U.S. Department of Justice for Bulletproof Vest Grant during the Fiscal Year 2024. Once awarded, Grants will be brought to the City Council for acceptance.