Manvel City Council approved a resolution at its March 2 meeting to apply for two state public safety grants aimed at upgrading outdated police body cameras and strengthening regional emergency response coordination.
Why now?
City officials said the Manvel Police Department’s current body-worn camera system is outdated, prompting the city to apply for funding through the Body-Worn Camera Grant Program, administered by the Office of the Governor’s Public Safety Office.
If awarded, the grant would provide the funding for:
- 50 existing body cameras, purchase of 10 additional units
- Charging equipment
- Cloud storage
- Digital evidence management services
The city will request $126,667 through the program. The grant would cover $95,000 of the total cost, while the city would provide the remaining $31,667, which is the required 25% local match, according to
city documents.
The matching funds are not included in the fiscal year 2025-26 budget but would be incorporated into FY 2026-27 if the grant is awarded, city officials said.
Also of note
The city will also submit an application through the State Homeland Security Program to provide state funding for a 24-foot rapid-deployable, climate-controlled mobile incident command and communications vehicle, according to city documents.
The vehicle would include 10 radios and a communications patching system that allows multiple agencies to communicate across different radio networks, city officials said.
The city is requesting $450,000-$500,000 for the project, which would cover the full cost if awarded, according to city documents.
The effort is part of the Manvel Operational Readiness Initiative, or MORI, which is a proposed emergency effort designed to strengthen the city’s ability to respond to active-threat incidents, severe weather and other emergencies.
What’s next
Following approval, the city will submit both grant applications for FY 2026-27.
If awarded, the projects would start as early as September, according to the Texas Governor’s Public Safety Office grant website.
