• Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and Steelville Police Department receive $50,000 each

Governor Mike Kehoe announced nearly $10 million in state grants for improving public safety to Missouri Blue Shield communities across the state. A total of 201 counties, cities, and towns earned the Governor’s Blue Shield designation by creating comprehensive, sustainable plans to fight crime and promote safer communities, making them eligible for grant funding.

“We had high expectations when we announced the Blue Shield Program on our first day in office, but the work Missouri communities have put into fighting crime and supporting law enforcement has been tremendous,” said Governor Kehoe. “The communities earning Blue Shield grants are proving the value of this program by utilizing the state funds to purchase equipment that will identify and help capture criminals and protect officers as they patrol Missouri’s streets.”

Missouri communities could apply for $50,000 in training, equipment, and technology grants if they met Missouri Blue Shield requirements and were designated as Blue Shield communities by June 1, 2025. A total of 60 counties, 137 cities and four towns were approved.

• 388 Mobile Data Terminals

• 351 Body Cameras

• 151 License Plate Readers

• 102 Ballistic Vests

• 91 Interoperable Radios

• 56 Vehicles

“The Blue Shield communities are investing the state grants they are receiving in ballistic vests, body cameras, license plate readers, radios, dash cameras, patrol vehicles, UTVs and other equipment that will make a real difference to crime fighting every day,” Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Mark James said. “I also appreciate all the assistance our DPS Grants team provided to the Blue Shield community applicants to get the money flowing quickly to support the fine work of our local law enforcement partners.”

Communities have received notification of their grant awards by email this week from the Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The Crawford County Sheriff's Office was approved for the SFY 2026 Missouri Blue Shield Grant Program (MBGSP). Our application was selected for funding in the amount of $50,000. We intend to use the funds for a Flock Safety System as well as for replacing outdated body armor. A Flock Safety system is a network of fixed cameras that automatically capture license plates and vehicle details (including make, color, and type) and send them to a cloud platform. Authorized agencies can search the data and receive hot-list alerts within a set retention period to aid investigations. In short, Flock Safety deters crime by increasing the certainty of detection. Visible cameras at choke points capture license plate and vehicle details, trigger real-time hot-list alerts, and reveal patterns for targeted patrol. Flock safety is a force multiplier, as it boosts the certainty of detection and reduces the time to identification from days to minutes.

Thanks to the Blue Shield Program, the Steelville Police Department was approved for the SFY 2026 Missouri Blue Shield Grant Program (MBGSP) in the amount of $50,000.  This money will be used to purchase a new 2025 vehicle for the Steelville Police Department.  This vehicle will be used for patrolling, grant work and the day-to-day operations of the police department within Steelville. 

The Blue Shield Program, as outlined in Executive Order 25-03, is part of the Governor’s Safer Missouri initiative announced on his first day in office. The Governor included, and the General Assembly approved, $10 million in grant funding for law enforcement training, equipment, and technology in Missouri’s FY 2026 budget.

Blue Shield designation eligibility criteria includes:

• Passage of a resolution demonstrating a commitment to public safety, including to reduce violent crime within the jurisdiction;

• Extraordinary investments in public safety funding;

• Community policing initiatives or local partnerships to invest in and/or improve public safety;

• Law enforcement officer recruitment and retention program;

• Demonstrated effectiveness in reducing crime or innovative programs that attempt to reduce crime;

• Participates in regional anti-crime task forces, or a commitment to be a willing partner with these in the future; and

• Compliance with Missouri crime reporting and traffic stop data requirements and other related statutes.

Blue Shield counties, cities, and towns must maintain their commitments to retain the Blue Shield designation via annual reporting about their ongoing efforts to support public safety to DPS. There will be another opportunity for other communities to apply for the Blue Shield designation and take advantage of future grants in 2026.