Officer safety is of the utmost importance, especially in recent days.
That is why local business owner Tonya Cialona is starting up a fundraiser to help keep Picayune Police officers protected with up to date bulletproof vests.
She said this project has been on her mind for some time, long before the plethora of stories about officers being shot began to flood the media. In preparation for the effort, she asked how law enforcement agencies kept their vests in working order.
During discussions with officers at the Picayune Police Department, she learned that grant funding helps defer some of the expense of providing officers with vests. Maj. C. Ray Carlisle is the Picayune Police Department’s logistics and finance director, tasked with procuring equipment and resources for the officers.
He said an officer’s bulletproof vest needs to be replaced every five years, at a cost of more than $500 a piece. The Kevlar in the vests does not last forever, especially when sweat, heat and natural degradation of the material are taken into account, Carlisle said. For the most part, vests have to be fitted for each of the department’s two-dozen officers. And while grant funding is provided to the department to help with that expense, it only covers about 50 percent of the purchase price.
Another safety item that involves a regular expense are electronic control devices. While the purchase of the electronic control device is not recurring, the cartridges need to be restocked when used. A case of 50 cartridges can cost the department about $1,200, Carlisle said.
Cialona said she is now taking donations, and established an account at First National Bank of Picayune under the title “Saving Police Lives Campaign.” Once all of the donations are collected, the sum will be presented to the City Council, who will have to make a motion to officially accept the donation to the police department.
She is also working with a local business to have T-shirts printed up with a law enforcement themed graphic that will include “John 15:11”, to be sold as part of the fundraiser.
Cialona expects the shirts to be ready for sale within a week or so, but she is accepting donations now. The fundraiser will last through the rest of the summer.
“We are truly excited about this,” Cialona said.
Carlisle said new vests will need to be ordered next year.