Tester excited to help Plains secure new police vehicles

As it has been previously reported in the Valley Press, the Plains Police Department is on its way to acquiring new police vehicles, and now have had some extra help from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.

In a press release last week, Tester aided the Town of Plains with support to enable them to receive much-needed funds through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Development program.

Tester was the only member of Montana’s delegation to vote for the bipartisan agreement that made the investment possible.

The Town of Plains will receive a $50,000 grant and a $30,000 loan to purchase the new vehicles.

“These vehicles will go a long way toward keeping families and police officers in Plains safer,” said Tester, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “These new cruisers will help our law enforcement officers keep the peace in Plains and Sanders County, and they will ultimately save taxpayer dollars on costly repairs.”

“On behalf of the residents of the Town of Plains, I wish to express our appreciation for this grant and loan,” said Plains Mayor Dan Rowan.”I would also add that it is gratifying to see that rural communities from the State of Montana haven’t been forgotten at the federal level by our elected officials, and that they have some understanding of the difficulties facing small-town America.”

The two new vehicles will help the Plains Police Department better respond to emergency situations by speeding up response times and increasing patrol availability.

The vehicles will help the small town largely as the costs of the old, outdated vehicles used where eating the town’s budget with repairs from constant breakdowns.

http://www.vp-mi.com/local_news/20180801/tester_excited_to_help_plains_secure_new_police_vehicles