The Chelsea Police Department is awaiting word on a federal Justice Department grant that would help fund gang, drug, and anti-crime initiatives in the city.
Earlier this month, the department applied for a $27,105 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant. The entire amount of the grant would be used to put additional personnel in the streets in high crime areas.
According to the police department’s application, the grant will help pay for continued deployment of specialized gang, drug, and anti-crime units as assigned to focus crime reduction initiatives. Those units will engage community input through direct public interaction with officers, community meetings, and computer technology including text-to-tip hotlines and social media accounts.
The specialized units will also work with the department’s crime analysis unit to pinpoint trends and geographic locations around the city where crime or disturbances are happening, as well as working with the community services division.
The top five identifiers of success for the program will focus on repeat offenders, gangs and drugs, community policing, firearms, and violence and violent crimes.
Generally, the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs award notifications are made by the end of the current federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, according to the Department of Justice website.
In other police business, the department is participating once again this year in the Pink Patch Project. The goal of the project is to raise funds to further the research, treatment, and care for those battling or who have battled cancer.
The police department will be selling a limited supply of its standard department patch in a new 2022 pink design for $10 each. The patches will be numbered on the reverse side.
Patches will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis until they are sold out or until the end of October, whichever comes first. All proceeds from the patch will be donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Anyone who wants a patch can email [email protected] with their name and phone number. The patches are available for pick up at the Chelsea Police Department or can be mailed out.
Orders will be accepted through Oct. 31.