On Wednesday, Greenwich Senator Richard Blumenthal and United States Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4), along with Senator Chris Murphy and U.S. Congressmen John Larson (CT-1), Joe Courtney (CT-2), Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) and Elizabeth Esty (CT-5), announced that the Greenwich Police Department, as well as several other local and state organizations, will be getting grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Town of Greenwich’s police department was given $71,213 in FEMA federal funding for the Port Security Grant Program on Long Island Sound.
“These federal funds will ensure that local public safety dive teams have access to the equipment and gear they need and deserve to protect themselves in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “With the support of previous federal funds, Greenwich has taken a leadership role in providing life-saving training for public safety divers throughout the region—a vital service that has undoubtedly saved lives along the Shoreline. These federal funds will also provide new closed caption television coverage for the Greenwich Harbor Ferry and Police Marine Unit Docks, enhancing public safety and security and supporting local police efforts.”
In total, the state of Connecticut was awarded $12.4 million in federal funding to enhance the capacity of state and local emergency responders to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from potential terrorist attacks, major natural disasters and other emergencies.
“At a time when our nation faces unprecedented challenges abroad, our local first responders and state security keep us secure here at home. Thanks to the support of FEMA, our first responders will have the resources they need to prepare for disasters and ensure the safety of our local communities,” the Connecticut delegation said in a prepared statement. “These grants are exactly the kind of proactive federal investment we should be making to make our communities more resilient and stop devastation before it occurs, and we will continue to work hard to bring more funding back home to keep our state safe.”
According to the FEMA web site, the Port Security Grant Program plays an important role in the implementation of the National Preparedness System by supporting the building, sustainment, and delivery of core capabilities essential to achieving the National Preparedness Goal (the Goal) of a secure and resilient Nation.
Building core capabilities requires the combined effort of the whole community, rather than the exclusive effort of any single organization or level of government. The PSGP’s allowable costs support efforts to build and sustain core capabilities across the Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery mission areas.
“During Sandy, there were fires in Greenwich that threatened to spread, but were contained by firefighters before they could cause even more damage,” said Congressman Himes. “We know that another major weather event like that is going to bear down on us at some point. The best thing we can do to prepare for this certainty is to fully train and fund our first responders so they can effectively save lives and mitigate damage. These funds from FEMA will help Greenwich, and the rest of Connecticut, do that.”
