• The Portland Police Department and Cumberland County Sheriff's Office was awarded $158,263 to enhance officer security, to improve services provided to the mentally ill, to develop outreach programs directed at the local immigrant and refugee communities within Portland, and to purchase advanced equipment to aid police investigations • The City of Saco was granted $10,687 to expand and improve a drug enforcement and reduction strategy that will involve the cooperation of both state and federal agencies working in Maine.
"Local law enforcement personnel are working every day to keep illegal drugs out of our communities and out of the hands of our children. This funding will give them important resources to prevent and fight drug crimes, including support for community outreach and community policing efforts," remarked Senators Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. The DOJ funds will be used to help train law enforcement personnel, improve and upgrade equipment, and to develop drug prevention strategies. These projects, will also involve community-policing efforts in order to raise the level of citizen involvement in crime prevention and improve relations between the communities and local law enforcement. ###