A $50,000 grant meant to improve relationships between establishments that sell alcohol, the surrounding community and police officers has been awarded to the Long Beach Police Department, it was announced Friday.

The grant was awarded by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to the LBPD’s Vice Investigations Section to help fund additional resources to increase training, education and enforcement efforts, the release stated.

“All three entities must continually be educated regarding their roles and responsibilities and the appropriate enforcement actions that may be taken,” according to the press release.

According to the department, Long Beach has a high volume of ABC-licensed establishments.

The grant could possibly offset budgetary personnel constraints, if beneficial, and would have a positive impact on Long Beach’s residents, visitors and business owners, the release goes on to say.

According to the LBPD, the grant objectives include identifying and focusing on problematic ABC-licensed establishments regularly, conducting quarterly task force operations involving the establishments, providing training on alcohol-related issues for all officers, conducting quarterly community meetings followed up by an investigation status meeting, and obtaining the top 10 nuisance locations each quarter for problem-solving to ensure compliance.

“The department is continually striving to ensure the safety and welfare of all Long Beach residents and visitors by providing responsive and professional police services,” according to the release. “The department will continue to use resources as efficiently as possible to address problematic ABC premises.”

Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.