Fulton awarded three grants for police, city equipment

Awarded by city insurance group to lower liability exposure

October 24, 2013 at 6:00 a.m. | Updated October 24, 2013 at 6:00 a.m.

MIRMA Loss Control and Member Services Director Patrick Bonnot, left, presents Fulton Mayor LeRoy Benton with an award for three matching grants to purchase equipment for the city and Fulton Police Department that would help lower city liability at the Fulton City Council meeting Tuesday.

Thanks to a grant from its liability insurance program, the city of Fulton will have plenty of new equipment intended to keep employees and residents safe.

At the Fulton City Council meeting Tuesday, the Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association (MIRMA) awarded the city of Fulton three matching grants to supply city garage workers with a truck-mounted crane and Fulton Police officers with a new dashboard cam and 10 pocket cameras.

The crane will go on the city's garage service truck to aid in changing large tires and other heavy lifting projects. The dash cam will help replace outdated units the police department already uses, while the pocket cameras will record audio and video of officers' interactions within the city.

The total of all three grants came to $13,301.

"We'd been looking at (a crane) for several years, but it was cost prohibitive," Director of Administration Bill Johnson said. "MIRMA is our liability and workers' comp, so they set aside some money each year for items to help reduce work comp claims and liability, and the city is allowed to apply."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.