The Pulaski County Council is making funding arrangements for new communications equipment for the Sheriff’s Department. Plans call for upgrades to the 911 center’s phone system, new body cameras and portable radios for the deputies, new video editing software, and cloud storage.
“If our numbers are right when we look at it, the 911 Fund would have to pay about $80,000 a year,” Sheriff Jeff Richwine told council members last week. “This is for the phone service and all of that stuff that goes with it, the body cameras, the portables. We would get a refresh on the body cameras at two-and-a-half years, which means they’ll just give us all-new body cameras.”
Richwine explained that he originally planned to purchase all the equipment as part of a single package from Motorola. But the process was delayed when he learned that a federal grant might be available to cover part of the cost of the phones but not the other equipment. Richwine said Motorola has agreed to separate the phone system from the rest of the contract, but the agreement still had to be reviewed by County Attorney Kevin Tankersley and approved by the county commissioners.
To help cover the up-front cost, council members agreed to let Richwine spend $90,000 out of the 911 Fund, pending the approval of the contract. Richwine said the purchases will also involve a financing plan through Motorola.
