Indiana Criminal Justice Institute hands out more than $3M

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — More than $3 million in grants has been awarded by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to Indiana law enforcement agencies to fund crime prevention efforts.

The money will be handed out to 50 agencies across the state and will help with the creation or support of crime prevention programs, purchasing new equipment and the training and hiring of more staff.

Devon McDonald, executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, joined News 8’s Phil Sanchez for an “UnPHILtered” conversation on Thursday night.

“I think this money goes to really good purposes,” McDonald said. “We fund a lot of programs or items that these agencies otherwise wouldn’t be able to do unless we run the program that way we run it.”

McDonald says the Indiana State Excise Police got the most grant funding, receiving almost $375,000 for improvements.

Agencies have until the end of the year to spend the funds.

To watch the full interview, click on the video above.

Send your suggestions for future interviews to unphiltered@wishtv.com.