The Casper City Council on Tuesday authorized city police to use about $30,000 of federal grant money it was awarded last month.

Most of the funds will be used to pay overtime costs, but the department will also use a small piece for a new laser radar.

The money will be spread over more than a dozen programs, some of which are national events and others that are local initiatives.

The Combined Accident Reduction and Traffic Enforcement programs carried out by Casper police and neighboring agencies in the past have netted hundreds of citations.

Most recently, Casper police issued eight citations and eight warnings with one DWUI arrest during a CARTE operation. Police from neighboring communities, in cooperation with Casper police, issued more than 180 citations during a CARTE operation on the first day of school.

The department will also receive money for extra cops during the Super Bowl, St. Patrick's Day, the weeks leading up to July 4 and motorcycle awareness efforts in late April.

The federal dollars, overseen by the Wyoming Department of Transportation, was already awarded. The council vote gave the city police permission to use the money.

You can reach city reporter Pete Nickeas at pete.nickeas@trib.com or (307) 266-0639. You can read more about Casper politics and government at http://tribtown.trib.com/redtape