The Woodbridge Police Department is getting a $5,000 grant. The money is one of 23 grants given to police departments throughout the county by the prosecutor's office, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan.

It's the third year for the grant, funded under Kaplan's community policing program, which encourages local police departments to focus on local issues and problems of concern to residents.

Departments that applied for the grants were required to meet with various community leaders, civic groups and religious organizations to identify areas of concern, and then develop programs designed to address those matters, Kaplan said in a statement.

The applications included developing a plan to deal with quality-of-life issues, such as curbing graffiti, criminal mischief, bullying or bias-related crimes.

Some of the projects for which the funds have been used, Kaplan said, have included increased patrols around religious centers, concentrated police squads on burglaries of homes and cars, or towards  the purchase of security cameras in high-crime neighborhoods.

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