(KNZA)-The Hiawatha Police Department has announced the successful acquisition of crucial upgrades to maintain its digital forensic lab, thanks to the support of two local businesses and other entities.

In the last two months, the Hiawatha Police Department received several grants to upgrade the digital forensics lab.

They include:

a $15,583 federal JAG grant

a $5,000 grant from Rainbow Communications

a $2,500 grant from Wal-Mart

Combining these grant awards with local funding from Brown County and the City of Hiawatha, the police department said in a release that its able to improve and continue the digital forensics lab that serves all law enforcement agencies in northeast Kansas.

The release says the role of digital forensics processing and examination is vital to the investigation of a wide range of crimes. These crimes often involve child exploitation, drug trafficking, as well as financial and cybercrimes.

The total cost of the new forensic computer and forensic software license is $26,717.