The Petaluma Police Department received a $22,020 award to fund decoy operations involving tobacco sales to minors, police announced recently.

The funds will help the department run two decoy operations per year over the next three years, in conjunction with the city’s code enforcement and Community Development Department, police said.

Ultimately the funding “will allow our department to better protect our youth community members from the dangers of tobacco consumption,” according to police.

The funding comes from 2016’s Prop 56, designed to reduce “illegal sales and marketing of cigarettes and tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to minors,” according to the grant program’s website.

The state Attorney General’s Office administers those funds to California law enforcement agencies through its Tobacco Grant Program. Since 2017, the program has distributed approximately $212 million, according to the program website.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @sawhney_media.