A few years ago the Willacy Co. Sheriff's Dept. had nothing to brag about--just some broken down 10 year old patrol cars and very little equipment. Now, due to federal and state grants, the department has become a well equipped and provisioned law enforcement agency with new SUV5, ATVs and even a boat to patrol the waters of the Laguna Madre.

At Monday's county meeting even more spoils from the federal government for law enforcement were announced.

Sheriff's Dept. grantsman Joe Jimenez said that the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition has awarded the county $141,545 for equipment. Technically Willacy County is not a border county but because U.S. Hwy. 77 from Brownsville runs through out county and we have a port where illegal drugs can be unloaded an exception was made for our county. So,we get a slice of the law enforcement pie.

Jimenez also reported that our county is applying for a $300,000 grant to buy new police radios. The money will come from the Recovery Act grant doled out by the Obama administration

And, under"Operation Stonegarden," Willacy County has been awarded a 3-year grant totaling $833,413 which will pay for overtime for deputies from Aug. 1, 2009 until April 1, 2012.

This means we should see an increased presence of law enforcement in our county for the forseeable future.