Boston Council Panel Advances Three Federal Public Safety Grants for Full Council Vote

BOSTON — July 20, 2026 — Boston City Council public safety panel backs $13.52 million homeland security grant and $567,000 e-citation project. The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, chaired by Councilor William Flaherty, heard presentations Monday on three federal grant dockets — 0108, 0109, and 0110 — from an Office of Emergency Management chief and Deputy Superintendent Christopher Walsh of the Boston Police Department. The UASI grant, drawn from a $16.9 million federal allocation for fiscal year 2022, flows to the nine-city Metro Boston Homeland Security Region; the smaller grant funds in-vehicle mobile printers for up to 564 Boston Police cruisers to replace handwritten traffic citations with an electronic system linked to the state's MAX database. The OEM chief noted Boston's FEMA threat ranking rose from 12th to 11th this year, reflecting the city's infrastructure, major events, and national economic role. Council President Ed Flynn pressed on officer training for the new technology; Walsh confirmed the Registry of Motor Vehicles has an existing training program and that new police recruits will be trained at the academy. Flaherty pledged to move a committee report to the full council quickly, calling the grants "very needed resources."