Published: November 08, 2009 12:12 am      

Flatwoods gets grant for police computers

Greenup — Law-enforcement agencies in Greenup County will be able to move several steps closer toward their goal of having all their vehicles equipped with mobile-data computers.

The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security this past week announced a $124,800 grant to the city of Flatwoods, which is the lead agency in the project, to purchase the units.

The grant is the latest step in an effort that began about three years ago, according to Greenup County 911 Director Scott Brown. All of the law-enforcement agencies in the county banded together to apply for the grants in order to increase their chances of being approved, he said.

Currently, there are 60 vehicles operated by the city police departments in the county and by the sheriff’s department. Brown said he wasn’t sure of the number that currently have on-board computers, but he said all of those in the fleets of the Russell and Flatwoods police departments have them.

It costs roughly $12,000 to outfit a vehicle with one of the units, Brown said.

The computers in the vehicles work in conjunction with computer-aided 911 dispatching, Brown said. Dispatchers are able to use them to transmit various type data to officers — one example would be prior calls to a location where an officer has been dispatched to serve a warrant.

The terminals also can be used, Brown said, for “silent dispatching,” which is valuable in instances where police have reason to believe suspects might be monitoring their movements over a scanner.

Officers also can use the computers to access the National Crime Information Computer, and the units also have technology that allows dispatchers to track the vehicles in which they are located.

“The key thing,” Brown said, “is responder safety.”

“We aggressively pursue increased safety and security in the best interest of all citizens and guests. And we do so in the most effective manner possible. This grant supports first responder missions on behalf of the recipient community and region. It’s an integral part of our objective,” said Thomas L. Preston, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides the funding for the grants administered by the state agency.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.