Bids taken on server for Jackson police equipment

The Jackson Police Department soon may join other area law-enforcement agencies in using stepped-up technology in patrol cars.

Chief James Humphreys said the department is waiting only on a server that needs to be purchased by the county in order for in-vehicle laptops to work and for officers to finish training on mobile systems.

The new technology will allow patrolling Jackson police officers to run warrant and license checks from their cars and allow dispatchers to see where the patrol cars are on a geographic information systems map. The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department and Cape Girardeau Police Department already use similar technologies.

"It's going to be a really big plus," Humphreys said. "We're expecting this will keep [officers] mobile and on the road, and they won't have to come back to the office to file reports right away. Having a dispatcher know where a patrol car is located at all times is also a very good officer-safety feature we don't have right now."

The department bought seven laptop computers and other equipment for the patrol cars with money from a grant. Humphreys said he hopes to buy at least three more laptops with the grant next year. The department plans to install the laptops in eight patrol cars that are on the road at all times and in supervisors' vehicles. Humphreys said he hopes the technology can be in use by the end of the year.

Cape Girardeau County's 911 system may pay for the server required to make the technology work in the Jackson patrol cars because the county is considered the connection point for the technology, and the equipment is considered part of the system, according to Richard Knaup, the county's emergency management director. Knaup approached the county commission last week with a proposal to use county 911 funds to pay for the $45,749 server. The county also has provided the servers for the city of Cape Girardeau and the county sheriff's department.

Knaup said an issue with the server's cost resides with the company that holds the equipment and technology will not allow the county to buy a server elsewhere, or the company will not provide a warranty. For that reason, the county this week placed a required "notice of intent to make single feasible source purchase" in local newspapers, which states the county believes the technology may be purchased only from the one source, Cassidian Communications of Temecula, Calif., but asks anyone who can supply the server to contact the county clerk's office by 10 a.m. Oct. 15.

Another addition to the county's 911 system was approved by commissioners last week -- a replacement of outdated records management computer servers that will cost $27,074. The servers store information from Cape Girardeau and Jackson police and the county sheriff's department.

Knaup said the county's current servers are not keeping up with demand the three agencies are placing on them and have become slow. The servers allow information pertinent to investigations and incidents to be shared by the three agencies. The county's 911 advisory board approved the purchase before the pitch to commissioners.

eragan@semissourian.com

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