The MFA Oil Foundation on Wednesday presented a $2,000 grant to the West Plains Police Department to purchase equipment.
The department applied for the grant online through MFA Oil Company, a farmer-owned cooperative with more than 40,000 members, Lt. Kyle Ellison said.
Ellison said the West Plains Police Department will use the funds to purchase a pepper ball gun and launcher.
“We will use the pepper ball gun and launcher when we don’t want to use lethal force. It gives us another option,” Ellison told the Daily Quill on Wednesday.
The nonlethal weapon lets officers act from a distance and gives them time to escape a threat. Ellison said the pepper ball gun and launcher are typically used in situations where physical vicinity to a suspect is considered dangerous but deadly force is not warranted.
MFA Oil Foundation representative Matthew Warren presented the grant funds to the department. He said the foundation awarded the grant to the police department to support the agency in working to improve the community.
Warren said the foundation also recently awarded grants to Houston Fire Department to purchase equipment and the Willow Springs Police Department for new Tasers.
Warren has been with MFA Oil Foundation for 12 years and said the foundation awards funds to support nonprofit organizations and law enforcement agencies who are working to actively address and solve community problems.
He said the grants the foundation awards also support many youth programs and organizations.
"The MFA Oil Foundation has awarded more than $1 million in grants since it was established in 1998," Warren said.
MFA Oil Senior Director of Employee Engagement and Culture Tom May described the MFA Oil Foundation as “a program that allows our company to give support back to rural communities that are the foundation of our business.”
