Albany Getting Big Federal Money For Safety

Many say that the reason they've stopped coming to the City of Albany is because they feel unsafe. That's all about to change. As part of a big sum that the State of New York was awarded, Albany will be getting a decent sized portion to go into implementing safety initiatives.

In total New York received $10.5 million and Albany will get $344,000 of that, according to the Altamont Enterprise.

Read More: How Albany Ranks Among The Best State Capitals To Live

What will that money go toward?

According to the report it mostly goes to training for really dangerous situations. It gives them money toward HazMat teams as well as cyber security. It also grants $60,000 for an explosive detection K9 unit. It takes a lot to make sure that these animals are properly trained to be able to detect explosive materials.

Explosive Detection Canine Teams provide a visible, proactive police presence in areas of mass gathering, transportation centers and critical infrastructure site

Personally I would love to see some of that money go to the local police to help them better deal with the problems that the community is facing that is keeping people from visiting and appreciating the wonderful city we live in. It would be amazing if some of it could go to helping out some of the folks who need to right type of care in dealing with their mental health, something that may have them living on the streets.

I absolutely applaud the State Department of Homeland Security in investing in our areas safety. I just hope the money is well spent and not squandered like it always seems to be.