County commissioners give $250,000 to Youngstown State police for enhancements
Mahoning County Commissioners Anthony Traficanti, David Ditzler and Carol Rimedio-Righetti granted $250,000 to YSU police.
Commander of the Youngstown State University Police Academy Ed Villone announced they’ve used the $250,000 to enhance their training and equipment.
The funds, which came from the American Rescue Plan Act, went toward 25 ballistic shields and cases, as well as active shooter training for two years.
“Upon receipt of the ARPA funds, we wasted no time in procuring essential equipment to equip our law enforcement officers with the tools they need to effectively respond to active threats,” said Commander Villone during a press conference at YSU with fellow faculty and the commissioners.
The money will go toward the next two years of active shooter rapid response training for the county’s active service police and police academy recruits.
Last year, 42 officers from 15 different county department participated in the training sessions.
President Bill Johnson thanked the commissioners during the press conference Wednesday afternoon in Tod Hall.
“I can’t say enough about the depth of my support for law enforcement. We’re going to continue that as long as I’m here at Youngstown State University,” Johnson said. “To our Commissioners let me say how grateful we are that you’ve seen the value of this program to move the needle forward. I have great confidence in all our law enforcement officers do.”
The Mahoning County Commissioners said it was a collaborative effort between their office and YSU, the county sheriff’s office and the Emergency Management Agency.
“There’s no price you can put on life and we appreciate all our law enforcement officers do every day,” the commissioners said. “We will always advocate and do whatever we can do for them.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
