Funding efforts pay off for WSPD

The Willow Springs Police Department (WSPD) received their first Blue Shield Designation by the Missouri Department of Public Safety May 29.

 

The Blue Shield Program recognizes Missouri communities that demonstrate a strong commitment to public safety and supporting their law enforcement, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety. The Blue Shield designation comes with a fifty thousand dollar grant for use towards law enforcement training and/or equipment. 

 

WSPD currently has a training budget of five thousand dollars. Once the Blue Shield funds arrive, the department will be looking into buying new equipment such as guns, helmets, ballistics, and possibly a drone to use for search and rescues, said Deputy Chief Ryan Boyle in a June 2 interview.

 

Boyle has been working to meet the criteria of the Blue Shield since January as part of an overall goal to locate alternative funding. Having the Blue Shield designation while applying for federal grants is favorable, said Chief Wes Ellison in the interview.

 

The department also received this year funding as part of the new 287G program through Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE). As a result of six WSPD officers completing the training for the program,  they should receive a reimbursement of $7,500 per officer trained through the program and $100,000 for use towards vehicles, totaling about $145,000. 

 

The department’s goal is to use the $100,000 to buy two more fleet vehicles. There are still cars from 2010 and 2011 in service, said Boyle. The newly awarded funding allows the department to replace these old vehicles, a perennial need. Using funds budgeted for 2026, the department bought a Dodge Durango, currently driven by Officer Joe Barnhouse.

 

As previously reported by Howell County News, the 2026 budget is designed to fund 9 full-time officers, and the department is currently fully staffed. Since the last report of a new, former officer Denny Cunningham has resigned. Officer Katheryn Kreuser joined WSPS on June 2, the only female officer. There is no indication that staff numbers will increase through the regular budget, Ellison confirmed. Grant and federal program funds will be used for training, equipment, vehicles need now instead of becoming a regular addition to the budget process, he explained.