The City of Presque Isle will use a Safety Enhancement Grant awarded by the Maine Municipal Association to purchase partitions for up to three of its patrol cars.

The Presque Isle Police Department cruisers do not have partitions currently, said Kimberly R. Smith, City Grant Writer, Presque Isle.

Smith also said:

At present, our cruisers do not have cages or partitions.  This leaves our patrol officers open to a wide range of safety issues.  Without the cages, our officers can be stabbed, bitten, kicked, have blood or saliva spit or thrown on them, or choked.  In addition, a prisoner could currently throw themselves over the seat to grab the steering wheel or cause other bodily harm. None of these safety issues could occur with the installation of cages.

Presque isle received the Safety Enhancement grant for up to $2,000. MMA grants are designed to help reduce things like the severity and frequency of workplace injuries. Smith said, improving workplace safety for municipal works reduces lost work hours, insurance costs and overtime expenses, saving taxpayers money.

Note from the City Grant Writer:

The Maine Municipal Association has been awarding safety grants to Members of their Workers’ Compensation fund since 1999. The Grant program has assisted municipalities by bestowing more than $4.4 million through funding of 3,564 Safety Enhancement Grants and 459 Scholarship Grants.

Loss Control Department for Maine Municipal Association, advises the program received 117 applications for this grant period and $159,015 was awarded. Grants are awarded in May and October each year.

For more information about any of the Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Service programs, including Safety Enhancement Grants eligibility and applications, please visit their website at www.memun.org and click on the Risk Management Services link, or call at 1-800-590-5583.

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