Picayune City Council accepts donations for police department

During a relatively short meeting last night, the City Council took action on a number of items.

Jennifer Cutrer, with the Junior Auxiliary Club of Picayune, asked the board to recognize April 1st throught April 7th as Junior Auxiliary Week. The proclamation is aimed at being a salute to the club and all of the charity work they both participate in and encourage. The club’s main focus is charitable efforts directed toward children. The proclamation passed.

Law enforcement was the main focus of the meeting as Police Chief Bryan Dawsey appeared before the council to ask for the purchase of electronic control devices (tasers) and a request to accept the donation of a 30x40 metal building to be used as a training facility for the police department. Both measures passed.

Community member Tonya Dawsey attended last night’s meeting to award Picayune Police Department with new training equipment valued at $41,607, which she raised in the community through her Saving Police Lives Campaign. The equipment includes items like bullet-proof vests for officers. The campaign has raised over $60,000 since it began in late 2016.

Dawsey credited the kindness of the local community for the campaign’s success, stating, “I just want to say thank you to all the citizens for their effort. I’m extremely thankful."

Her charity and hard work were met with much gratitude from the council.

“Thank you for all your hard work,” noted Mayor Ed Pinero.

Councilman Larry Breland (pictured during a meeting earlier this year) added, “In these times of financial shortages, gifts like this do a lot to help the city and morale and I applaud your efforts.”

The safety of schools has been a big topic around the country in recent months, and last night the council took some measures, in conjunction with the Picayune School Board, to improve school security. The school board issued a request to expand from four to seven school resource officers, allocating one officer per school. The school district has proposed to cover the expected $524,000 for the additional personnel, equipment, and training, and Picayune Police Department has agreed to provide the service and oversight. The officers will double as patrol officers during free summer months. The request was approved.