Wayland Announces Public Safety Grant Award
Wayland, MA – The Wayland Town Manager’s Office is pleased to announce the award of a public safety grant to the Wayland Police Department (WPD). The grant award was announced today by the Healy-Driscoll Administration and is part of a larger federal grant program that is overseen by Department of Justice to the Office of Grants and Research (OGR).
The grant award is the result of a competitive application process in which Massachusetts police departments submitted proposals in the early part of 2023. As stated in the press release issued by the Office of Grants and Research, “Grant reviewers identified projects that aligned with specific priority areas, including strategies to address unlawful drug use, human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, gang and gun violence, missing person cases, and hate crimes. Additional priorities funded by this grant include technology upgrades, investigative tools and protective gear, school safety and security, and efforts to advance racial equity and support underserved communities.”
The Wayland Police Department will receive a total grant award in the amount of $45,245. These funds will be used to replace a certain number of WPD portable radios which were due to be replaced in the next one to two years. In addition to a more technologically advanced radio, the new radios will also provide upgrades in the form of expanded communication capabilities. Specifically, the new radios will have the ability to communicate with an added number of surrounding communities, which will be especially helpful when working together on important issues such as calls for mutual aid.
Town Manager Michael McCall stated, “I am particularly pleased to announce today’s grant award because I feel it represents the resourceful approach to budgeting and problem-solving that we want to emphasize and build upon. Acting Chief Burman has done an excellent job of identifying these type of opportunities and allocating the resources needed make them become a reality. Both the Acting Chief and his staff who worked to make this happen deserve an enormous amount of credit for securing this grant award.”