by Becky Goff
Little Apple Post
MANHATTAN - Riley County Police Department is the only department in the state to have a local Haz-Mat team.
On Monday morning, Senator Jerry Moran announced he helped secure $440,000 in funding for the Riley County Police Department to purchase a Hazardous Evidence Response Team (HERT) vehicle.
Moran as an appropriator for the Department of Justice and member of a subcommittee which oversees funding for law enforcement, was able to direct the funds to RCPD.
Interim Director Kurt Moldrup and Sergeant Dustin Weiszbrod both thanked Senator Moran for his support and getting the funding directed to RCPD.
"We wanted to say, on behalf of our team members, thank you, Senator Moran for securing this funding, for our vehicle. It's going to be great to have a place, as mentioned already to store the equipment and to transport our personnel to scenes." Riley County Police Department, Interim Director, Kurt Moldrup says.
RCPD's Haz-Mat team had been sharing a response vehicle with the Crime Scene Investigations (C.S.I.) team, this new vehicle will allow for quicker response time, and minimize damage to sensitive equipment.