COVE receives people fund grant

Thanks to a nearly $2,300 People Fund grant to Communities Overcoming Violent  Encounters, Lake, Mason, and Oceana county law enforcement agencies will receive new pocket-sized camcorders and training to help in the investigation of domestic violence crimes.

These cameras can record up to 60 minutes of video, and have a flip-out USB arm that plugs into any computer for easy drag-and-drop video organizing. With this grant COVE was also able to purchase a laptop to assist with transferring the video to the prosecutor's office if needed.

A free training that will cover investigating and report writing for domestic violence crimes, with emphasis on how to use picture and video taken at the scene to assist in prosecution of the offenders, will be held on April 16 at the Mason-Oceana 911 building. The training will be open to all law enforcement officers and prosecutors in Mason, Lake, and Oceana counties. Once someone from each department attends the training, that department will receive their specified number of cameras. Cameras were divided up based on the department's size and the population of the community it serves.

COVE is a domestic violence/ sexual assault crisis center providing emergency shelter for women and children, a 24-hour crisis line, information and referrals, advocacy and support through the crisis, with the police and courts, weekly support groups, and a free legal clinic for our clients.

Services are available to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and homelessness in Mason, Lake and Oceana counties.

Last year alone the agency provided services to about 400 families.

"We would like to say a special thank you to Great Lakes Energy and their customers who so generously give to the People Fund by 'rounding up' their bills to the nearest dollar," the agency stated in a press release."Without these customers the grant would not exist and without this grant the cameras would not have been able to be purchased, so thank you to those who gave and continue to give. If you are interested in contributing to the People Fund, please contact a representative with Great Lakes Energy".