This post is the next installment in our ongoing series on funding for police agencies. In Part 1, we shared advice from public safety grant expert Joan Brody on how to navigate the shifting landscape of 2025 funding. In Part 2, we looked at why real-time data is no longer just a nice-to-have—it’s a critical component of being grant-ready and proving your department’s impact.

Now we’re turning to something equally important: how to make strategic use of your end-of-year budget.

‍Catch up on previous posts here:

Navigating Public Safety Grants in 2025 with Expert Joan Brody

Why Better Data Is the Key to Public Safety Funding

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Why Your Remaining Budget Still Matters

Unspent funds often get overlooked, but they represent a real opportunity. As Joan Brody shared in Part 1, many departments have access to formula-based or operational budget that can still be used strategically, especially if tied to an initiative that supports public safety outcomes.

Whether your fiscal year ends this summer or later in the fall, this is the time to consider smart investments that improve how your agency operates today and strengthen your position for future funding.

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Turn Budget into Results with ForceMetrics

The ForceMetrics Velocity™ Platform helps agencies get more out of the systems they already use by connecting public safety technology like CAD, RMS, 911, jail data, and more.

ForceMetrics brings together the data your team already collects across CAD, RMS, 911, jail systems, and more into one platform that works for everyone in your agency.

• Dispatchers can instantly see caller history, risk indicators, and address-specific context.
• Patrol officers receive relevant background before arriving on scene, helping them prepare and respond with more confidence.
• Investigators and analysts no longer spend hours pulling reports. They can surface related cases, notes, and activity in seconds.
• Command staff use live CompStat dashboards like FMStat to move beyond static reports and lead with real-time insight, not outdated spreadsheets.

Departments using ForceMetrics report up to a 70% reduction in time spent gathering incident context and faster coordination across units and roles.

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Support Today’s Ops and Tomorrow’s Funding

We’ve already looked at how ForceMetrics helps teams work more efficiently across dispatch, patrol, investigations, and command. But the platform also plays a critical role in helping agencies track and communicate their impact, especially when it comes to securing future funding.

That’s where FMStat™, ForceMetrics’ live CompStat dashboard, comes in.

We could show one of our FMStat screens here (not 100% necessary but might be nice)

FMStat was designed to help leaders move beyond static reports and outdated spreadsheets. It gives command staff access to real-time data they can use to lead meetings, make decisions, and answer follow-up questions without waiting for analysts to pull reports. A ForceMetrics user Agency recently shared:
“Now in our Monday morning briefings, I don’t wait on the crime analysts to build us static PDFs. I pull a live dashboard in ForceMetrics and show exactly what’s happening right now.”

As highlighted in Part 2, real-time insight is essential not just for internal operations, but also for demonstrating progress to external stakeholders and funders. FMStat gives agencies a clear view of the outcomes that matter:

• Are response times improving?
• Are co-responder or diversion models working?
• Are crime trends shifting in real time, and are strategies adjusting accordingly?
• Can your team prove the effectiveness of your efforts?

Answering these questions in the moment (not weeks later) is what sets high-performing agencies and their leaders apart.

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How ForceMetrics and Joan Brody Help You Plan Smarter

Grant specialist Joan Brody, can turn your operational data into funding success. Every day, Joan works alongside our product team to:

• Identify and redirect unspent budget and grant funding for maximum impact
• Frame technology investments as essential public safety improvements
• Build compelling grant proposal approaches backed by real-time performance metrics

As Joan recently shared:

“As a grant writer, I’ve never once been stuck because I didn’t have the data I needed—ForceMetrics always has the numbers to tell a persuasive story.” 

Whether you need to realign this year’s budget or prepare future grant proposals, our platform and funding specialists provide the data and narrative you need to successfully identify current unspent dollars and win future funding.

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Start Now, Stay Grant-Ready

Whether your focus is operational efficiency, co-responder models, or modern CompStat dashboards, ForceMetrics offers a fast, scalable solution.

• Deploys in under a day
• Requires no training
• Delivers results from day one
• Strengthens your future grant applications with built-in accountability
  
  

It’s a smart way to use your end-of-year budget and an even smarter step toward the future of precision policing.

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See ForceMetrics in action. Schedule a demo today to explore how it can boost your agency’s coordination, response times, and strategic planning.