BOSTON-Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport) in cooperation with the Healey-Driscoll administration and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, announced the release of a $1.6 million public safety grant for Fall River. The Massachusetts Municipal Public Safety Staffing Grant Awards are distributed to eligible municipalities to help maintain public safety and emergency response services by addressing staffing shortfalls in police and fire departments across the Commonwealth. This program is for municipalities with a population of at least 60,000, (according to the 2010 census) and whose police departments had an operating budget per capita of less than $200 in 2010. Fall River is one of just 10 Massachusetts municipalities to receive this grant. In addition, the city’s Police and Fire Departments have received over $14 million in funding since 2011 from this program, by far the most in the state.