Mich. county receives $170,000 first responder grant

The grant will send four newly hired corrections officers to the corrections academy

By Elisabeth Waldon
Daily News

STANTON, Mich. — Montcalm County was awarded a $170,000 grant from the state of Michigan for first responder training and recruitment.

The grant was announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as part of $5 million worth of grants going to more than 60 Michigan communities as part of the First Responder Training and Recruitment Grant Program.

Doezema told the Daily News that Montcalm County’s proposal to the state was as follows: train six EMTs to become paramedics; send four newly hired corrections officers to the Corrections Academy; train seven sheriff’s dive team members and upgrade dive equipment; train four sheriff’s deputies in tactical encounters; provide training equipment to the patrol and corrections in-house defensive tactics training program; train three patrol and corrections officers in de-escalation, intervention and force mitigation; and hire and send two pre-service sheriff’s deputy recruits to the Police Academy. The state has not yet provided the levels of funding for each of these proposed projects to Montcalm County.

FULL STORY: Montcalm County receives $170,000 first responder grant