Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced Friday that her office has allocated $82,700 to bolster education, training and enforcement of drug laws.
Those funds were forfeited to the District Attorney’s Office as a result of criminal prosecutions of drug offenses.
“By allocating this money back into the hands of the people who keep us safe, the purpose of this forfeiture funding (is) providing funding to our local law enforcement to combat crime and safeguard our streets from narcotic-related offenses,” Ziccarelli said.
Property used or intended to be used in violation of the state’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act is subject to forfeiture, according to Pennsylvania statutes. Those forfeitures are restricted to use for drug enforcement and prevention activities as well as resources for other community-based drug enforcement and policing efforts, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Grants awarded in 2024:
• Vandergrift Borough: $4,449.50 for the purchase of 10 firearms.
• Allegheny Township: $3,102.75 to purchase a training system for a PepperBall VKS Pro, a nonlethal tactical firearm.
• Delmont Borough: $6,000 for training of the department’s new police dog, Dirk. The borough restarted its police dog program this year after not having one for 25 years. Dirk has been trained in narcotics detection, search-and-rescue and tracking.
• Irwin Borough: $10,000 for the purchase of three body cameras.
• North Huntingdon: $10,000 for the purchase of four tactical vests.
• Latrobe: $20,131.01 to upgrade police vehicle computers.
• Greater Latrobe School District: $4,719 for the purchase of 11 firearms.
• Westmoreland County Prison: $5,000 for training of a police dog. A jail handbook indicates a police dog trained in narcotics detection will be present for public visitation with inmates.
• Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office: $11,200 to certify 11 regional police officers in defensive tactics.
• Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 62: $613 for the purchase of two automated external defibrillators.
• Greensburg Police Department: $500 for detective wiretap training.
• New Kensington Police Department: $7,000 to construct two interview rooms consisting of audio/video recording capabilities for investigative purposes.
