 "Photo: Matt Binter")
The Riley County Police Department has been awarded a $40,300 grant to aid in purchasing law enforcement equipment.
The grant, which was announced by U.S. Senator Pat Roberts’ office in late August, will go toward purchasing software to operate Mobile Data Terminals for the RCPD. The terminal will provide data analysis and dissemination of critical information to officers who require immediate situation or individual background information, according to the press release. All users are able to view calls in real time and access maps, critical safety information and intelligence.
Capt. Hank Nelson of the RCPD said he believes the terminals will be great tools.
“The increased information flow will be as fast as we can get it,” he said. “It’s going to be much more efficient for officers doing research out where they need to be.”
In awarding the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice, two factors are considered: population and part-one crime.
Part-one crimes consist of homicide, burglary, robbery, rape, vehicle theft, aggravated assault and larceny, according to the Memphis Police Department’s Web site.
Nelson said the application process was easy compared to other grants. Past recipients of justice assistance grants must provide documentation as to how the money awarded was spent, Nelson said.
“We have to report all expenditures to them so they know their money is not being squandered,” he said.
The first quarterly report on a similar grant received through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has just finished, he said.
Mobile Data Terminals are not a new technology for law enforcement officials around the state. Before beginning the program, the RCPD had communicated with several departments from around the state about any issues they had with the terminals. Issues of what laptops to buy, how to mount them and how to ensure communication in low-signal areas were all considered in the process, Nelson said.
Currently, there are about five units in use, Nelson said. The project is still in its infancy with more growth yet to come.
“These grants don’t expect you to spend the money right away,” Nelson said. “You have a multi-year period to do this. Right now, we are in the experimentation mode, isolating the problems we’d have before full implementation. Within a year we estimate that most of our cars will have MDT technology.”
While the population of Riley County steadily increases, Nelson said the MDT technology is very important.
“It’s going to make us that much more efficient to be able to get that information in real time,” he said. “The officer will have real-time information. It will be a great benefit to the community.”
Student body president Dalton Henry, senior in agricultural communications and journalism and agricultural economics, is a native of Randolph, Kan., a small town in northern Riley County. Henry said he believes the new terminals will help RCPD officers to better execute their jobs.
“I think when you look at a county like Riley where a lot of the population is at one end and the other is fairly rural, being able to provide information to officers in the field can help their ability to respond,” Henry said.
2 comments
Hey IceT, maybe you didn't know this, and if not it may be a huge shock. Those things are against the law. That's what the RCPD is supposed to do. Not to mention they arrested a Fort Riley Soldier for being a serial rapist earlier this year. go back to your ghetto.