The Greene County board of supervisors on Monday agreed to fund $5,000 toward an in-car laptop computer for the Jefferson police department. The funds will come from the county’s Louis Dreyfus funds.
JPD chief Dave Morlan made his request for funding a week earlier. The in-car computer puts all information available on the World Wide Web, including all state vehicle and criminal records, to officers at all times. It also makes it possible for the dispatcher and other public safety personnel to know each other’s exact location at any time.
The JPD has purchased one in-car computer with city funding, a $2,000 grant from the Greene County Community Foundation, a $1,000 donation from the Jefferson Firemen’s Association, and a gift from the Shirley Wiggins estate. Total cost, including mounting and installation, was $7,311. It will be operational yet this week, Morlan said.
The department has two primary duty cars, and Morlan is looking to place a similar computer in the second car. Morlan asked for funding for the entire purchase cost from the county. Cost for the second computer is expected to be close to the same.
The Greene County sheriff’s office has been able to purchase computers from available funds. The office has five, with a sixth to be added soon and the seventh and last one planned for next year. Sheriff Steve Haupert is supportive of Morlan’s request for county funding. According to Haupert, the in-car computers are the direction law enforcement is going, and they’re important to officer safety.
The supervisors on Monday asked Jefferson city administrator Mike Palmer about city funding for the JPD. Palmer said the police department has spent its entire budget. Supervisor Guy Richardson, a former Jefferson city council member, asked Palmer if the city council had considered increasing the police department budget. “We realize the city has been doing a lot of projects, a lot of expensive projects lately, so I realize the money is tight, but at the same time, that’s what people are talking about,” Richardson said.
The supervisors told Palmer they intended to partially fund the request. “It’s good for everybody,” board chair John Muir said.
In further discussion after Palmer left the meeting, the supervisors agreed to provide $5,000 in funding for the JPD’s computer, noting the excellent working relationship between the JPD and the sheriff’s office. “I don’t think there was a mad outcry against it. We just want to understand it,” Muir said about the city’s funding position. “To me, when I see the departments are working that well together, the more we can help out, it’s good for everybody.”
Louis Dreyfus LLC provides $50,000 to the county each year in lieu of property taxes on the ethanol plant near Grand Junction. The money is used at the discretion of the board of supervisors through an application process.
