Funding Aimed at Enhancing Technology/Community Policing

 

 

WAPPINGERS FALLS – U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly today announced that the Village of Wappingers Falls Police Department will receive $56,220 in federal assistance to enhance community policing efforts and gain access to better crime-fighting technologies.

 

Kelly said that the Village police will receive the funds from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Making Officer Redeployment Effective (MORE) Program. 

 

“This funding will give the Wappingers Falls Police Department the ability to access state-of-the-art crime-fighting technology, and will put more officers on the street right where they’re needed," Kelly said. "More police patrolling the streets of Wappingers Falls means a safer community for all of us.”

 

COPS MORE grants allow police departments to acquire equipment and technology such as mobile computing systems, computer-aided dispatch systems, and automated booking and fingerprinting systems. The enhanced technology allows local police departments to devote more officer time to community policing. Kelly said the money “will permit the police to move officers out from behind desks and onto the street.”

 

The federal grant provides funding for 75 percent of the total cost of the technology and equipment. The remainder is paid out of state or local funds.

 

Village of Wappingers Falls Police Lieutenant John S. Birdsell said, "The Village of Wappingers Falls Police Department is grateful to Congresswoman Sue Kelly for helping the Village receive this grant. This money will directly help the community buy software that will enable officers to remain on the road and out on patrol instead of in the office writing reports.”

 

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