New Bedford police awarded $59,520 in federal funding for road safety enforcement
The grant, announced by state Rep. Tony Cabral, comes through a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration program the state's Office of Grants and Research runs for municipal police departments.
NEW BEDFORD The New Bedford Police Department has been awarded $59,520 in federal funding for traffic enforcement and street safety, state Rep. Tony Cabral announced. The award comes through the FFY27 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program, a federal program the state administers for municipal police departments.
The money, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, can pay for traffic enforcement, pedestrian and bicyclist safety work, traffic safety equipment, officer training and public education. The state's Office of Grants and Research runs the program as the administering agency for federal highway safety funds, and only Massachusetts municipal police departments can apply. The program is built to give departments flexibility beyond enforcement, including equipment and new traffic safety programs, with the goal of reducing roadway crashes, injuries, deaths and the costs that come with them.
"This funding will help prevent crashes, strengthen high-visibility traffic enforcement, and improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists across our city," Cabral said. "Safe streets are essential to a strong community and I want to thank the Healey-Driscoll Administration, OGR, and the New Bedford Police Department for their commitment to keeping our roads safe. Together, we are building a safer New Bedford for everyone!"
Cabral, a Democrat, represents the 13th Bristol district, which covers part of New Bedford.
The state notes that the funding is contingent on the availability and release of money from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and that the Office of Grants and Research can amend awards if the federal government requires it. Federal fiscal 2027 began Oct. 1, so the grant covers work in the year now underway.
The office announced last year's round in October 2025, on behalf of the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security: $6,173,954.64 to 210 municipal police departments across the state, $7,148,043.11 for nine state agencies running 25 traffic safety projects, and $613,900.86 for three state agencies and two municipal police departments to improve traffic crash data collection and quality. The office describes the grants as aimed at traffic safety problems identified through evidence and crash data, and it runs the programs as the administering agency for the federal highway safety money Massachusetts receives.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The award amount ($59,520), the program (FFY27 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program) and the recipient (New Bedford Police Department) come from the announcing official's own public statement, Rep. Tony Cabral, Oct. 21, corroborated word for word by the New Bedford Guide on Oct. 22; both were read this morning and the Guide page was saved. The program description is from the state's own program page on mass.gov, fetched and saved this morning: OGR as the administering agency, NHTSA funding, municipal-police-only eligibility, the enforcement-equipment-training flexibility, the crash-reduction goal and the federal-contingency note, all paraphrased from that page. Cabral's district (13th Bristol, covering part of New Bedford) is his seat as announced. The prior-year program scale ($6.17 million to 210 departments) is from a town record quoting OGR's awards announcement; it is attributed as last year's round. The quotes are verbatim from the announcement. No one is named beyond the public official making the announcement. Weekday check: Oct. 21, 2026 was a Wednesday; Oct. 22 is a Thursday.
Corrections
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Sources (4)
- State Rep. Tony Cabral (13th Bristol): announcement of the New Bedford Police Department award (Oct. 21)The award itself: $59,520 in federal funding to the New Bedford Police Department through the FFY27 Municipal Road Safety Grant Program, administered by the Office of Grants and Research and funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for traffic enforcement, pedestrian and bicyclist safety, traffic safety equipment, officer training and public education; the Cabral quotes, verbatim. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
- Mass.gov, Office of Grants and Research: Municipal Road Safety (MRS) Grant ProgramThe program record: OGR is the State Administering Agency for NHTSA traffic safety grants; the program gives police departments flexibility beyond enforcement, including equipment and novel programs; the goal is reducing crashes, injuries, fatalities and economic losses; only Massachusetts municipal police departments are eligible; funding is contingent on the availability and release of federal funds and OGR may amend awards if the federal government requires. Fetched and saved as gov-mrs-grant-program.html. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
- Chelmsford town record: EOPSS traffic safety grant awards announcement email (Oct. 3, 2025)The prior-year scale of the program: $6,173,954.64 to 210 municipal police departments, in OGR's own awards announcement (the email says OGR is the State Administering Agency for NHTSA funds). Saved as gov-ogr-awards-2025-announcement.pdf (text extracted and checked this run). Read Oct. 22, 2026.
- Also reported by: New Bedford Guide.