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Date: 9/8/2020
RUSSELL – The Russell Police Department was one of 44 police departments and 65 fire departments across the Commonwealth to receive up to $50,000 in competitive federal Coronavirus Emergency Supplement Funding Program Awards (CESFP), the Baker-Polito Administration announced on Aug. 26.
Sgt. Sean Shattuck of Russell said the $49,344 the town received would be used to purchase a decontamination tent, a generator for the tent, personal protective equipment, and a computer program to track and keep track of information related to COVID.
Shattuck gave credit to state Sen. John C. Velis and his staff for helping them to secure the funding. “We learned about this grant through Sen. [John] Velis’ office,” he said, adding that his office also assisted them in the application process.
“Any town could have applied, but only two did in our area. The whole process was five weeks from the date they announced it until they had the money available,” he said.
The department also plans to purchase two message boards on the side of the road for the residents of the town, who may not have access to the internet or other means of communication. “We’re going to focus on providing information to residents in the town of Russell with regards to the COVID epidemic,” Shattuck said.
Among the PPE the department will be purchasing are more face masks. Shattuck said that residents in Russell had “really provided for us” with masks, but the supply started to get low on masks and other equipment, because the emergency has been so long in duration.
“That’s pretty much it. We’re really excited to get this up and rolling,” Shattuck said.
The Granville Police Department was also granted an award of $49,948 for overtime and PPE.
“These awards to municipal departments and state agencies across the Commonwealth demonstrate our commitment to providing our police officers, firefighters, and other public safety personnel with the necessary tools to effectively serve their communities while continuing to fight a pandemic,” said Gov. Charlie Baker in his announcement of the awards, which totaled $9.6 million.