Today, Assemblymember Monica P. Wallace (D-Lancaster) announced that she secured two grants totaling $55,000 to purchase vital equipment for the Lancaster Police Department, including $15,000 for the department to purchase ballistic helmets for its emergency response team. Assemblymember Wallace also secured $40,000 through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which Lancaster Police Department will use to purchase an automatic cyanoacrylate fingerprint fuming chamber and a new speed trailer.

The fingerprint fuming chamber will enhance the Lancaster Police Department’s ability to develop fingerprints found at crime scenes and positively identify suspects. Meanwhile, the new speed trailer will replace the department’s current, outdated trailer and will feature solar panels to allow for longer periods of deployment, a message board to communicate important information to motorists, and technology to conduct lengthy speed studies on streets.

“This technology will help the Lancaster Police Department do their jobs and keep the public safe. In particular, the speed trailer will encourage drivers to slow down and exercise caution in high-risk areas, such as near schools, and will give LPD officers useful information on how to improve safety on our streets. It’s my privilege to secure resources to assist local law enforcement, and I thank Lancaster police officers for all that they do to protect and serve our community.”

“Thanks to this funding, the Lancaster Police Department will be better equipped to protect our residents from crime and to address their traffic concerns,” said Lancaster Police Department Chief William J. Karn, Jr. “The fingerprint fuming chamber will greatly assist our detectives in identifying suspects from fingerprints collected at crime scenes, while the ballistic helmets will help keep our Emergency Response Team officers safe in dangerous situations. We thank Assemblymember Wallace for this funding and deeply appreciate the continued support we have received from her office.”

Since taking office in 2017, Assemblymember Wallace has secured hundreds of thousands in state funding for police and first responders. In 2019, she secured $10,000 to equip every LPD squad vehicle with an automated external defibrillator unit, AED bag, and trauma kit, as police officers are often the first to arrive at emergency medical calls, and the new equipment has given LPD personnel the ability to immediately render lifesaving aid.