In support of innovative public safety initiatives that are essential to local communities across northern Illinois,
ComEd and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus recently announced grants of up to $10,000 each to 21 communities to fund local public safety projects.
Each of the 21 projects to receive a Powering Safe Communities grant proposed a unique way to improve the efficiency and delivery of public safety programs, increase community resiliency, and address unmet safety needs. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus — a council for Chicagoland’s chief elected officials to collaborate on public policy issues — reviewed all applications. Click here to read more on Business Wire. Information on the Powering Safe Communities Program can be found here.
Five of the 21 projects were in SSMMA’s communities, including:
Village of Alsip – This grant helps fund equipment, goods, and services for the recently approved volunteer Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) run by the Village of Alsip’s Department of Emergency Preparedness (DEP). CERT educates individuals about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.
Village of Crete – This grant supports the purchase of three Thermal Imaging Cameras, two for the Police Department and one for Crete’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA). The cameras will be installed on specific patrol vehicles to greatly enhance the ability to see at night by combining night optics with heat-sensing ability.
Village of Flossmoor – This grant funds two portable, programmable, and energy-efficient speed display signs to be used at multiple locations throughout the Village. The signs will allow the Village to set sign configurations, schedule operating modes, and gather traffic data for analysis. The Village’s goal is to increase motorists’ awareness of their traveling speed in school zones and achieve better adherence to speed limits on residential streets.
City of Oak Forest – This grant helps expand the City’s AED (automated external defibrillator) program from nine to 20 units to help diagnose and treat community members suffering from life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. The City will replace existing AED units and deploy 11 AEDs in public buildings and on the street in police, fire, EMA, and public works vehicles.
Village of Worth – This grant funds the replacement of 12 tower type computers for the Worth Police Department. The new computers will allow the Department to effectively communicate with other public safety agencies in the region using a new “Superion Public Safety Records Management System.” The enhanced technology, through the speed and accuracy of data acquisition, will also improve the Department’s ability to comply with its mission of serving and protecting community residents and visitors.