HOULTON, Maine — Town councilors on Monday evening approved several grants that will benefit both the police department and security in the community as a whole.
During a brief meeting, councilors approved a $4,869 Operation Stonegarden Grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The money will go to the Houlton Police Department and will be used for patrols that will be conducted jointly by both local and federal officers.
Operation Stonegarden is a federal grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The funding is provided to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities to work together to enhance national security.
Councilors also approved a $2,000 grant from the Aroostook County
Emergency Management Agency to buy body cameras for the police department.
The grant was secured by Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca, but it is not the first time that the department has purchased units.
The department first started issuing cameras to officers back in 2013 for use in documenting such matters as traffic stops, accident scenes, domestic violence cases, and interviews with victims and witnesses. The cameras can be clipped to the officer’s shirt and turned on with a switch. The video on each camera can then be downloaded. Eight cameras were first purchased back in 2013, and town officials had expressed an intent to buy more once they secured additional grant funding.
