March 29, 2024

Rehoboth Police Department Receives Several Safety Grants

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The Rehoboth Police Department was recently awarded three safety grants totaling $18,000 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Highway Safety Division.

Acting Police Chief Lt. James Trombetta coordinated the grant applications.

One of the grants is for $2,500 and will be used to purchase child car seats at a reduced rate from the state. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety website, the program aims to help reduce child passenger fatalities and injuries by distributing federally-approved car seats to residents in need as well as educating parents and caregivers on the proper installation and usage of child safety seats.

“We can provide car seats to someone who is not able to purchase a car seat themselves or if someone comes in for help to install a seat but it is not an approved seat, we can replace it with one that is,” said Trombetta.

Another grant, for $3,000, is part of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Enforcement Program.
The grant may be used for education, enforcement and outreach to help reduce the number of motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries involving pedestrians and bicyclists.

According to the Massachusetts Traffic Records Analysis Center, there have been 320 fatal injuries and more than 3,400 serious or incapacitating injuries sustained by pedestrians in motor vehicle crashes from 2008 to 2012. During the same time period, bicyclists sustained 1,106 serious or incapacitating injuries and 43 fatal injuries as a result of motor vehicle crashes.

Rehoboth Police may use some of the funds to purchase child bicycle helmets that may be distributed during a bicycle safety program in the schools, says Trombetta.

Under the third grant, the department will receive $2,500 each for a series of five traffic enforcement mobilizations. The department recently held one mobilization in December as part of the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. The grant allows local law enforcement agencies to run extra patrols, conduct sobriety checkpoints, and conduct public outreach to prevent drunk driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in 2012 in Massachusetts, 123 people were killed in crashes that involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.
The department is slated to run another “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign this year, as well as two “Click It or Ticket” mobilizations and one Texting Awareness program.

Trombetta said this grant was especially beneficial to the department considering the $360,000 cut in this year’s budget.

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