YATES CENTER, Kan. — The Yates Center Police Department will receive about $160,000 in federal funding to upgrade its communications equipment and purchase essential gear, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran announced Friday. The funding comes after the small rural department faced potential disbanding earlier this year because of budget limitations.
More than $90,000 of the funding will be used for new radio communications equipment, with the remaining money going toward a new patrol vehicle and body armor for officers. Police Chief Michael Strode said the upgrades will address aging equipment and improve officers’ ability to communicate while responding to calls, including inside the local high school.
Strode said the possibility of losing the department weighed heavily on him and the community, making the federal funding especially significant. He had spent the past two years seeking federal assistance to modernize the department without placing additional financial pressure on local taxpayers.
Moran said the funding recognizes the financial challenges facing rural law enforcement agencies, which often have fewer officers, personnel and resources than larger communities. The grant was included in an appropriations bill approved by Congress and signed by the president, providing federal assistance to Yates Center as the department works to maintain local law enforcement services.
