By Jim Bloch
The Port Huron Police Department has won a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards to support programs that promote public safety and encourage community involvement.
The city council adopted a resolution by unanimous vote accepting the grant at its regular meeting March 26.
“This is a $100,000 grant through MCOLES for community engagement and relationship building,” said Police Chief Brian Kerrigan. “We can expend the funds over the next two years, so they’re not 100 percent spoken for.”
“Is this going to be for existing programs or something new you’re working on?” asked Mayor Anita Ashford.
“We’re still working on some of the different ideas,” said Kerrigan.
Kerrigan said that some of the money could be used to help showcase the Simulated Impaired Driving Experience cart, which the council voted to purchase for $41,789 earlier in the evening from Innocorp, Ltd., of Verona, Wisconsin. The cart allows participants to see what it is like to drive while intoxicated.
“This is a grant-funded purchase,” said City Manager James Freed of the cart, as heard on the recording of the meeting posted on the city’s website. “It’s not coming out of taxpayer money.”
“We already use some of those Fatal Vision goggles,” said Kerrigan, referring to eyewear that simulates the effects of impairment, also manufactured by Innocorp.
The goal of the commission, founded in 1965, is to serve the citizens of the state through promoting public safety. A budget supplemental act funded six new grant programs in 2022 in the amount of $58.7 million on a one-time basis through 2026; three of the grants are funded out of the state’s general fund and three out of the American Rescue Plan Act.
The state dollars “will be used for community outreach, educational initiatives, and proactive policing strategies that foster trust and collaboration,” according to the
resolution, which directed Kerrigan “to execute all the necessary documents related thereto, and to act as the project coordinator and authorized representative for all aspects of the grant and to expend those funds according to the grant agreement.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
