The Fall River Mayor delivered his second State of the City address last night from city council chambers inside of Government Center. 

 

Mayor Paul Coogan spent the first several minutes paying tribute to first responders and mourning those who perished as a result of the COVID-19 virus. 

 

Coogan claimed he continues to search for as many doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as he can find for city residents. 

 

The Fall River leader then went on to discuss public safety concerns and explained his administration’s response to those issues in regards to certain changes of the police department.  

 

“We are now piloting a body camera program after successful negotiations with the police union,” Mayor Coogan said. “We’re getting ready to roll out the cameras for our walking beat, first.”

 

He said Fall River will start to utilize more cameras throughout the city

 

“We obtained 50,000 dollars for a neighborhood policing program,” the Mayor said. “We formed partnerships between the school committee and the city to install 20 surveillance cameras – 10 permanent and 10 mobile.

 

The Fall River Police Department will not be the only public safety service improved. 

 

“We also allocated 100,000 dollars for turnout gear for the fire department,” Coogan said. “And we’re also finalizing separate plans for a state of the art building for EMS.”

 

The Mayor went on to praise the work of Police Chief Jeff Cardoza since he took over in the F.R.P.D indicating 6 of the 8 crime categories are showing a downward trend.