Framingham Receives $81,133 Grant For Police Department

Originally posted on January 26. Updated for Wednesday‘s Jan. 27 newsletter.

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Baker-Polito Administration awarded a total of $4 million in state grant funds to 15 police and fire departments to help these municipalities maintain their public safety and emergency response services.

Framingham received $81,133 for its police department, as part of the Massachusetts Municipal Public Safety Staffing Grant.

“Communities across the Commonwealth should feel confident that their police and fire are staffed adequately to do their job whenever the call for help comes in,” said Gov. Charlie Baker, in a press release. “These resources will support our municipalities and first responders in keeping their communities safe.”

“This is a very helpful grant,” said Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin. “The grant “will allow the (police) department to backfill the vacancies created when he added extra support to the Framingham Public Schools to add school resource officers. It is a very, very welcome bit of help from the state.”

“Supporting our cities and towns has been a focus of our administration from day one,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito,“and we are proud to offer these grants as a way to improve local public safety efforts.”

Based on the statute enabling this program, 10 municipalities were eligible to apply for funding this year. All submitted applications on behalf of their police, and five municipalities also requested funding for their fire departments. The funds can be used to restore, retain or hire police and fire personnel or for overtime if needed to provide adequate shift coverage to maintain appropriate staffing levels.

“These awards will maintain and in some cases restore staffing levels,” said Secretary of Public Safety and Security Daniel Bennett, “ensuring strong public safety which is crucial not only for our communities but for the police and fire personnel who risk their lives for us every day.”