A new homeland security grant from the federal government has caused several changes in the State College Police Department.

The department applied for and received the 12-month, $66,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice so State College police can increase efforts for homeland security, Sgt. Dana Leonard said. Leonard is in charge of coordinating the department's homeland security initiatives.

Leonard said the grant gives money to the department to pay officers to do homeland security-related work on an overtime basis -- duties that would otherwise have to compete with the officers' regular responsibilities.

Homeland security initiatives focus on four major areas, Leonard said.

One area is preparedness, which involves disaster planning should a terrorist attack occur in or near the State College community, Leonard said. Though Leonard said he could not predict the likelihood of a terrorist attack striking the area, he also said there are several events that draw large numbers of people to the area each year.

"It's probably a low likelihood, but there's a great deal at stake," Leonard said.

State College police will also work in conjunction with other local and federal agencies to formulate preparedness plans, Leonard said.

A second area of homeland security that State College police will focus on is officer training. Money from the grant will be used to send officers to special training programs, Leonard said.

Grant money will also be used for community relations. The department will share disaster-preparedness plans with the community.

"There is a level of comfort people get when we explain that there are plans in place," Leonard said.

The fourth area grant money will go toward is having officers on homeland security duties if the country's color-coded alert level is elevated.

"We can muster extra officers on patrol," Leonard said. "It's sort of like an insurance plan."

Leonard was appointed to oversee the grant and the department's homeland security efforts last week. This caused several position changes within the department.

Cpl. Mark Argiro said debates about the police department's budget that occurred at a State College Borough Council meeting last month did not affect the position changes.

Council members expressed concern last month when the police department's proposed annual budget for 2004 was about $300,000 more than the previous year.

"These changes happened in spite of anything that happened with the budget," Argiro said.