LAGRANGE – Lagrange Police will receive twice the amount of grant money for participating in Operation Pull Over.

Operation Pull Over is the primary seat belt enforcement program in Indiana. It aims to reduce fatalities and injuries related to seat belt usage and impaired driving.

Lagrange Marshall Rich Snyder said "It starts this month going into next year. They upped our amount to $8,500 from $4,000. We have to pay out to get back, so we are asking to pay out of public safety and then pay it back to public safety. It does gain the guys some money. They have to work for it but they don't complain about it."

Other enforcement periods are in March, May and August.

The Lagrange department is back up to full strength with the appointment of Tommy Gross as the department’s sixth full-time officer. Gross – who had been a reserve with the department four years – began his duties last week.

Snyder says Deputy Tyler Smoker will be the department’s second K-9 officer. Snyder says the department will go out and raise the $13-thousand needed to purchase the dog.

"We want to make sure that we fund this dog on our own. We're not asking for general fund money or public safety money. We'll raise what we can get. We'll get what we need and we'll make sure that we're covered so that we don't have to take it over till the budget of 2020-2021."

The second dog will give the department a dog on both shifts.