Police Not Yet Sure How To Use $350K In Federal Funds For New Police Boat
JohnCarl McGrady •
The federal government is giving the Nantucket Police Department $350,000 to purchase a police boat. However, the police department doesn’t yet know what it will do with the money.
After Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey announced last month that Nantucket will receive Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funds "to purchase a police and port safety vessel," the Current asked the Nantucket Police Department about how the federal funding would be used.
“We do not have specific details on a vessel purchase,” Lieutenant Angus MacVicar told the Current. “We are evaluating options to determine how this funding can best be used to support and enhance the Harbor Master fleet and marine safety operations.”
The Nantucket Police Department oversees four public safety functions, including the Harbormaster Division, which enforces maritime laws and maintains safety in island waters.
The police department’s budget for the coming fiscal year includes $650,000 for a new Harbor Master patrol boat. That boat is currently planned as a capital item for the Annual Town Meeting, where it will need voter approval. But when asked directly whether the federal dollars will go toward funding that purchase and reducing the cost of the capital item, MacVicar said the police department hasn’t made any concrete plans.
“No purchase details have been finalized,” he said. “The replacement of [the patrol boat]… was proposed as a capital project, and funding decisions have not yet been made.”
The press release from the office of Senator Ed Markey says that the funding is “to purchase a police and port safety vessel for the Nantucket Police Department's Marine Division to better patrol and enforce the law in Nantucket Harbor and in surrounding waters.”
Federal funds are often hard to come by, especially as the Trump administration continues to cut funding for a wide range of government programs.
The funding for the police department is one of two grants announced in Markey’s press release. The other is $1 million for Nourish Nantucket to fund renovations at its new food security hub on Boynton Lane.