Financial times may be lean for state agencies, but that doesn’t mean Dallas County prosecutors are ready to rest their case.

Pat Grindle, a former employee with the State of Alabama Department of Public Health and the Selma Police Department, joined the Fourth Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office Monday as an investigator.

Alabama ICE, which stands for &uot;isolating the criminal element,&uot; comes under the umbrella of the Federal Project Safe Neighborhoods program. A two-year grant gained through the program provided funds to Greene to hire Grindle as an investigator with his office.

Grindle’s duties include gathering evidence, talking to law enforcement agencies and writing

case reports.

Greene said his office was fortunate to get an investigator like Grindle. &uot;Pat brings a wealth of experience with him, and I am confident that he will play a key role in helping us reduce the number of violent offenses in Selma and Dallas County,&uot; he said.

The Federal Project Safe Neighborhoods program is designed for prosecuting criminals who violate gun laws on the federal level. Greene’s office holds a violent crime task force meeting each month where different law enforcement agencies meet to coordinate their efforts in reducing violent crime.

Greene said the program’s goal is to locate and identify people perpetrating gun crimes and prosecute them on the federal level.

Prosecution can result in jail time in a federal penitentiary from five to eight years.