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Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) announced that the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) has been awarded a Recovery Act grant totaling $2,234,070 from the Department of Homeland Security. The funds were provided through the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP).
“This Recovery Act award will work to protect Western New York’s transit and metro operation, add resources to fight crime and put a greater police presence on the streets,” said Congressman Higgins.
Lawrence M. Meckler, NFTA executive director said, “This grant provides us the opportunity to fund six additional police officers and increase our K9 corps with two additional K9 dogs. We appreciate Congressman Higgins’ efforts in securing this important funding that will be used to enhance security and increase the presence of officers throughout our Metro system.”
The federal funding was provided to support Operational Packages (OPacks) which focus on the use of visible, unpredictable deterrence utilizing canine teams, mobile explosives detection screening teams, and Anti-Terrorism teams which are effective in reducing risk to transit systems.
The Fiscal Year 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a total of $150 million for TSGP. Transit Security Grants are provided to help strengthen the nation’s critical infrastructure and the traveling public from acts of terrorism, major disasters, and other emergencies.
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