By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times editor

Dexter police will have three new in-car cameras thanks to a grant from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

The Dexter department, as well as law enforcement agencies in Bernie. Essex, Puxico and Three Rivers College will benefit from the grant through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. State Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, made the announcement this week.

"Securing the safety of our local, county and state officers and the general public they serve is always a top priority,” said Sen. Mayer. “I’m proud that three counties and nine cities in my district will receive the funding needed to help provide adequate safety measures to protect the citizens of our state.”

At Three Rivers’ main campus in Poplar Bluff, the new Police department will be able to purchase four new bulletproof vests.

“We are going to buy four bullet proof vests for our full-time officers,” Cagle said. Three Rivers is set to receive #3,385 through the grant. “They cost right at $1,000 each.”

Cagle said his department and the college was excited to learn of the grant award. Three Rivers established the police department on the main campus in January 2010 and it has four full-time commissioned officers and five part-time commissioned officers.

Three Rivers has record-breaking enrollment on its 80-acre campus in Poplar Bluff.

“We have 4,000 students enrolled and close to 200 living in Rivers Ridge student housing,” Cagle said. “For our department to just be a year old and to receive this grant is really something special.”

Grants awarded in Stoddard County include:

CITY	GRANT AMOUNT	LOCAL USE
Bernie	$8,359.72	28 Light bars/Lights
Dexter	$8,977.50	3 In-car Cameras
Essex	$5,399	1 Light bar/Lights, 1 Siren Box, 1 Flashlights
Puxico	$2,328.26	1 Light bat/Lights, 1 Siren Box, 2 Ballistic Vests
Three Rivers College	$3,389.36	4 Bullet-proof Vests

The grants are to be used to help agencies obtain essential law enforcement equipment necessary to increase public and officer safety. In all, cities and counties in the 25th senatorial district that Mayer represents will receive more than $85,000 in grant funding. Awards are limited to a maximum of $10,000 each and there is a 10 percent local match requirement.