Mt. Vernon Register-News

Local

August 17, 2010

Police to get new car computers

By TESA CULLI tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon Police Department will be able to replace three aging squad car computer units, thanks to a $20,500 grant from the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System.

“They’re an important tool for our officers,” MVPD Chief Chris Mendenall said. “They can have immediate access to important information while on patrol and while initiating stops.”

The department has about 20 of the units in squad cars, however, like most computers, they have a limited life span.

“These units are much older than many we have in use,” Mendenall explained. “They typically last about five to seven years, but these are even older than that.”

In addition to the laptop squad units, the grant monies will enable the department to purchase the equipment for the mounting. Mendenall said the 911 Board is also in the process of discussing a possible software upgrade for all the units in squad cars.

“If we get the software upgrade, the officers would have even more information available, such as mug shots, and could file reports from their cars,” Mendenall said.

According to ILEAS, the units provide the ability for officers to access state and national crime file and intelligence databases and communicate digitally with other law enforcement agencies statewide. Each unit and equipment for mounting carries an estimated price tag of $6,834.

ILEAS provided more than $3 million to 205 law enforcement agencies throughout the state for 450 of the squad car computers. Funds are from Federal Homeland Security grants available from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force.

ILEAS is an inter-governmental coalition of more than 900 local law enforcement agencies and more than 95 percent of all sworn officers in the state. ILEAS coordinates significant requests for mutual aid, provides grants and coordinates other law enforcement-related programs, according to information from ILEAS.

The stated mission of ILEAS is to meet the needs of law enforcement throughout the state in matters of mutual aid, emergency response and combining resources for public safety.

Text Only
Local