Verizon Wireless Awards Grant to HPD’s Crime Victims Unit

Verizon Wireless has awarded a $3,000 grant to the Hazelwood Police Department (HPD) for its Crime Victims and Domestic Violence Unit.  

As a Project Hopeline participant, the HPD receives cellular phones from Verizon which are distributed to domestic voloence crime victims. The city said this is an important component in the department’s overall goal to enhance the safety of victims; especially crucial for domestic violence and stalking victims to have 24-hour access to a cellular phone to call 911.

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It took a team effort within the department to apply for the grant funding, with Hazelwood’s IT system administrator Glen Robinson spearheading the task along with Beth Ray, HPD’s Crime Victim/Domestic Violence Unit coordinator and HPD Sgt. Any Eagan.

Robinson assisted HPD in signing up for Verizon’s Project Hopeline program in 2009, which turns no-longer used cell phones into support for domestic violence victims and survivors.

This additional funding will be used to cover the cost of reprinting informational packets which are given out to  crime victims, family members and community members every year.  

Some of the topics the packets cover include sexual assault, domestic violence, and family survivors of homicide. Domestic violence information is available in five different languages to accommodate the diverse mix of ethnic groups living in the Hazelwood community.

“We literally distribute hundreds of these informational packets on a yearly basis," Ray said. "And, they often need to be updated due to new and changing resources in the Greater St. Louis area.

"One of the most costly expenditures for this unit relates to the re-printing of these packets; but these updates are crucial to the department’s overall goal of providing victims with the highest quality of current information and referrals possible.”

A portion of the grant money will also be used to help train Ray, an 18-year member of the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (MCADSV).  

MCADSV members meet in Jefferson City once a year to interact with state legislators and national speakers. This event gives them an opportunity to cross-train with other service providers and to network with their peers.

Ray hasn’t been able to attend the annual MDADSV Conference for several years and she said the funding will enable her to go and keep herself up-to-date with current laws and legislation.

In 2010, the HPD was one of only three global law enforcement agencies to be presented with an .