When you think Firehouse Subs, you think fire department. But Suffolk Police have recently gotten help from this local business and the foundation the company has established to help fund public safety.

John W. King, owner of Suffolk’s Firehouse Subs, is a former Suffolk Police sergeant and a current auxiliary officer in his spare time. His wife Pam King, is co-owner of the business, a former police officer, and currently assigned as an investigator out of the Suffolk Fire Marshall’s office. They worked with their corporate office to get Suffolk the first law enforcement Firehouse Grant in the state of Virginia.

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation donated $19,800 in 2009 to purchase Total Station equipment and training for the Suffolk Police Department. This equipment will allow the Department to sketch three-dimensional crime scenes and scaled diagrams of serious accidents with a computer, dramatically reducing the number of hours spent on this process.

The equipment was scheduled to arrive on Monday, and the Police Department’s Crime Scene technicians and fatality investigators will be trained next week.

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation was established in 2005, with its first equipment donation going out in 2007. Since that time, the Foundation has donated $1.75 million worth of lifesaving equipment. The Foundation has impacted 100 different communities in 13 different states.

In 2009, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation made more than 60 donations to public safety entities across the country. Suffolk Police Department is the second police department to receive a donation since the start of the Foundation.

“John and Pam King both have a passion for public safety as evidenced by their career choices and the choice of their franchise,” said Suffolk Police Capt. Stephanie Burch, who worked with the Kings to obtain the grant funding.

“We can’t express our appreciation enough for them working with Suffolk Police and Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to get this funding. It is going to make a significant contribution to how we investigate and document crime and crash scenes.”

“Corporate grants such as this are helping to fill in the funding gaps that we are experiencing as a result of the economy,” added Police Chief Thomas Bennett.