JCSD deputies donning new safety/technical gear

From Jones County Sheriff’s Department Communications

ELLISVILLE, Miss. (WDAM) - Four grants worth more than $77,000 has allowed the Jones County Sheriff’s Department to outfit those in the field with new safety gear and technical upgrades.

JCSD has begun deploying the new safety and technical equipment to deputies, investigators, and narcotics agents.

JCSD applied for grants from:

Department of Justice: Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
Mississippi Office of Homeland Security (two grants)
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant.

All told, the new equipment and technology were valued at $77,100.

The BVPG pays 50 percent of the cost of new bulletproof vests, while the other three grants pay 100 reimbursement to Jones County.

Jones County Sheriff Joe Berlin exhibits one of the four ballistic shields his department was... — Jones County Sheriff Joe Berlin exhibits one of the four ballistic shields his department was able to purchase thanks to a quartet of grants.(Jones County Sheriff's Department)

Jones County was awarded the following items:

Eighty-one tourniquets with holders
Fifty-eight fully-stocked individual first-aid kits.
Thirty-six bulletproof vests: The 36 vests replace vests that are 5-years-old and older, damaged vest, vests originally ordered for another deputy and vests for deputies without
Twenty-four digital cameras
Six portable digital radios operating on the MSWIN system
Four ballistic shields: One deployed to each of JCSD’s four patrol squads
One digital video camera
One search and rescue drone
One launcher for less-lethal gas rounds.

”We are dedicated to providing our personnel with protective gear and equipment which will increase their safety,” Jones County Sheriff Joe Berlin said. “Law enforcement is a dangerous profession and having the necessary gear and equipment to protect and serve the residents of Jones County is critical.”

JCSD has additional grants pending for equipment and communications assets and hopes to hear within the next 30 days on those awards.

“Our personnel put their lives and their families’ futures on the line each and every day,” Berlin said. “We owe it to them to provide them the best safety and technical equipment that we can and our grant efforts help support that goal.”

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