By McKenzie Williams
U.S. Senator John Tester announced last week that he secured $50,000 for Libby Police Department. The grant will fund the purchase of four new police vehicles this fall with a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant that Tester voted to fund.
“Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to keep our families and our communities safe,” Tester said in the press release. “As your Senator, I am constantly fighting to bring home the resources our law enforcement officers need to protect Montana families and secure our communities.”
Tester was the only member of the Montana delegation to support the U.S. Department of Agriculture funding. This is the funding that provides the resources that we need for local law enforcement officers.
This grant in addition to private funding will give the Libby Police Department the resources needed to replace four older police cars with new vehicles that are more suited for Libby terrain.
The press release noted that the newer vehicles will enhance law enforcement ‘s ability to respond effectively and provide emergency services throughout Libby.
“The City of Libby and the Libby Police Department thanks the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development for its grant assistance to provide new police vehicles for the department,” said Libby Police Chief Scott Kessel. “The new all-wheel drive vehicles will allow us to more effectively respond and serve the needs of our community during all weather conditions, and wouldn’t have been possible without the USDA-RD grant assistance due to the extremely limited budget of the city.”
The new vehicles will outfitted with updated lighting and safety equipment and they are expected to be on the road by November of this year.