Danville police are ready in case there any attempts at insurrection or protests surrounding Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.
Responding to a question from Alderman Robert Williams during Tuesday night’s Public Works Committee meeting about the matter, Police Chief Chris Yates says the department is prepared for any type of protest activity, as it was earlier this year.
“We can revisit this spring and summer, with other issues that we had to deal with that we normally wouldn’t have to, and we have a contingency plan for as much as we could possibly think of as far as what are protocols are,” he explained.
Aldermen last night also approved an annual grant application for the Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program grant, or STEP grant. Yates says DPD receives between $21,000 and $24,000 every year for traffic enforcement. He says it allows for more officers to be brought in to enforce things such as distracted driving and speeding. The grant will allow for 180 hours of additional patrol, and it runs from October 1st through September 30th of each year.
Yates says three new officers will be sworn in on January 20th, and the department has hired a new administrative assistant, meaning it is at full force.
