Tampa Police Department gives grants to non-profits with money seized from crimes

TAMPA, Fla. - Have you ever wondered what happens to the money seized by investigators in crimes? It can add up to tens of thousands of dollars for police departments every year, and the Tampa Police Department is turning the cash into grants for non-profits.

For many of the groups, it has been tough to fund their mission. Since the pandemic, the non-profit sector alone has lost more than 900,000 jobs, so the department is helping keep some of the causes alive that they feel align with their mission of reducing crime, improving quality of life and making Tampa safer.

In February, when TPD shut down an illegal gaming operation, they seized more than $1,400 in cash. Money collected from crimes like that doesn't go to waste.

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"We in turn want to take that money and use it for good," said Jamel Michini, TPD's community partnership coordinator. "This way giving it out to community groups who are actually doing something and making a difference."

The cash funds TPD Cares, a grant program for Tampa-based non-profits. This year, Tampa police had more than 30 organizations apply for a portion of the $35,000 in funding. The group Men of Vision was one of them.

"This organization changed my life. I was one of those students that had one foot and one foot out not really doing all of the right things, but with Men of Vision I was able to put both feet in," Men of Vision Executive Director MarQuav'is Hamilton said.

Hamilton has been with the organization since seventh grade, and he's now the executive director. They help prepare young people for the future after high school by providing scholarships, doing community service projects, like serving meals at Feeding Tampa Bay every month and cleaning headstones at Memorial Park Cemetery.

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Tuesday, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw chose to award Men of Vision with a $10,000 grant, which was the highest amount given out.

"Our founder, he gave me a phone call, and he let me know that we were getting the $10,000. It was a pleasant feeling. I was very excited," Hamilton said.

For Hamilton, it means more opportunities to help set up young men for success.

"We would like to make sure that all the young men that join our organization get a two-year pre-paid scholarship or maybe even a four-year pre-paid scholarship. And then not only that, we would like to also help young men who would like to venture into entrepreneurship and do care packages for those that may join the military," Hamilton said.

TPD also gave out seven other grants to organizations, including three $5,000 grants, which went to two academic prep groups in Tampa and SOAR First, a youth crime prevention program.

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