Police seek grant for vests

By Dan King
Bulletproof vests get old and worn out after about five years, so the village of Whitehall is hoping to equip police officers with the ideal protection.
The village applied for a grant to help fund new bulletproof vests for the Police Department, Village Trustee and Police Commissioner Ken Bartholomew said that the village is the only municipality to have applied for the grant in Washington County.
The grant will match any expenditure made by the village on bulletproof vests, up to $1300. Just like any grant, the best part for the village is that it does not have to repay the money, as would be the case with a loan.
Village Trustee Walt Sandford, a former police officer said that he knows that these grants are available quite frequently and that he is glad the village is pursuing this opportunity to provide safety for the officers.
This grant comes on the heels of a new statewide initiative aimed at giving police departments to ability to equip their officers with bulletproof vests. The program called inVEST NY, is determined to provide adequate safety for police officers across New York State.
The initiative was created in June of this year by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and has been funding bulletproof vests for municipalities and counties alike.