Chief Marc Haslam is pleased to announce that the Swansea Police Department has been awarded $29,250 in grant funds as part of the Municipal Road Safety Grant allocated by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research (OGR).
Grant funds will be used to support the department’s continuing commitment to the enforcement of pedestrian, bicycle traffic and motor vehicle safety. As part of its bicycle enforcement, the department will host a bike rodeo to teach children how to safely ride their bikes.
The department will also conduct crosswalk educational enforcement, bike patrols that reward those wearing helmets with an ice cream coupon, helmet distribution bike patrols, and bicycle education at local summer camps.
Traffic enforcement will include distracted driving and speed enforcement along with OUI patrols.
The grant was authored by Lt. Joseph Martin and Sgt. John Souza, who is head of the traffic unit.
The grant is part of $10.9 million in federal grant funding awarded by the Baker-Polito Administration earlier this month to 186 municipal and state agencies for road safety improvements.
The grants provide police departments funding to address local traffic safety issues through enforcement, new equipment and novel traffic-safety programs. The goal is to support traditional enforcement activities and develop new strategies to reduce roadway crashes, injuries, fatalities, and associated economic losses in Massachusetts.
Since taking office in 2015, the Baker-Polito Administration has distributed approximately $70 million in highway safety grants. The grants provide equipment, training, and enforcement resources for local communities.
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