Escalon Police Chief Mike Borges and Ripon Police Chief Ed Ormonde announced this past week that the Ripon and Escalon Police Departments have been awarded a $40,237 grant from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to battle alcohol-related crime. “This is important to the City of Ripon in order to increase protection for youth and to shut down problem locations that have contributed to an increase in crime,” Chief Ormonde said. Borges, who told members of the Escalon City Council about the possibility of receiving the grant earlier this month, said he anticipated some of the funding will be used to do alcohol stings, using under age decoys to attempt to purchase alcohol.