OTTAWA — The Ottawa Police Department will receive a two-year federal grant of slightly more than $319,000 to fight sexual and domestic assault. Police Chief Dennis Butler said the grant will be shared with the Elizabeth Layton Center for Hope and Guidance, other law enforcement agencies, and service providers. Butler said the police department will hire a police officer and a part-time administrative assistant to handle a new batterer’s intervention program. He said a full-time detective will be assigned to investigate sexual assaults and domestic abuse. He said the Layton Center will hire a clinician who will help with the program. Judges will be able to require those convicted of domestic abuse to attend the intervention program, Butler said. Prison inmates can also be required to take the program as a condition of their probation, he said. The grant will also be used for sexual assault/domestic violence classes for other law enforcement officers in the region.
