RAPID CITY - Rapid City's legal and finance committee approved three additional police officers oWednesday, two of whom will be paid for by grant funds.

Police Chief Craig Tieszen said a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will pay for two officers for up to two years. The officers would be used to enhance drunken-driving enforcement.

The third officer, an additional liaison officer for Central High School, will be funded partly by the city and partly by Rapid City Area Schools. The city would pay for 62.5 percent of the school liaison officer's salary, and the school district would pay for the remainder.

"The police department has tried to use grants as much as we possibly can over the course of our history," Tieszen said. "Two years ago, we requested and got a grant for two officers, fully paid for two years, to initiate our STOP program, which we utilize to address unsafe drivers with suspended or revoked drivers licenses."

The NHTSA indicated it would be interested in having the police department do additional safety work with an emphasis on drunken drivers, he said.

"In this part of the country, our drunk-driving statistics are higher than the national average. There's considerable funding available, so we were encouraged to submit a grant," Tieszen said.

Tieszen said the grant is for one year, with an option for a second year. Although the city is under no obligation to retain those officers after the grant ends, Tieszen believes it is a way to transition into growing the department.

"I would hope with the growth we're seeing in the community that we would have the revenue to support those people in two years," he said.

In addition to personnel, the police department is using grants to buy additional equipment. The committee authorized applying for a $58,000 Coverdale Forensic Science grant to buy additional forensic lab equipment and a $100,000 highway-safety grant for in-car cameras.

"Currently, most of our patrol cars have in-car cameras. Unfortunately those cameras, which are provided by the state, … are not really good quality," Tieszen said. "We've had a lot of breakdowns and problems with them."

Tieszen said the proposal is to implement a digital system that would allow recordings to be stored on compact disc and could be uploaded for security purposes.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com