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GPS devices provided
to state troopers
June 01, 2007
When it comes to communicating, West Virginia lags far behind
the system, but is in the process of making up for lost technological time and distance, State Police Superintendent David
Lemmon observed Friday.
“We’re on our way,” he said. “We’re in the process of catching
up.”
One reason for optimism was a tiny, black-and-yellow instrument Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., held aloft
for the benefit of several officers Friday in the forest green uniforms at the Beckley detachment — a Global Positioning
System device that can tell folks back at headquarters their precise location.
That, emphasized Cpl. Gerald Dornburg,
operations officer for communications at the agency’s Charleston headquarters, could prove the difference between life
and death.
“It’s an excellent system,” Dornburg said before Rahall joined Lemmon and Sen. Robert
Plymale, D-Wayne, director of the Rahall Transportation Institute, in explaining the GPS device.
Its uses are almost
without limit — massive flooding and other natural catastrophes, an officer needing backup, a heart patient struggling
to survive an attack in the boondocks, where hollows have been re-named in updated maps and rescue teams get lost en route.
Rahall led the battle on Capitol Hill to secure the needed $493,614 grant under the Community Oriented Policing Services
program in face of opposition from the White House.
“It’s been on the chopping block, no doubt about
it,” Rahall said, without getting into any partisan political jabs.
“We need more funding. We had to
fight battles just to keep what we’ve got. But we’re continuing to fight against these cuts.”
Congress
extended COPS by six years with a $1.1 billion budget with legislation on Memorial Day weekend when police were accorded national
attention.
“I certainly take my hat off and salute each of you for the job you do every day, 24/7, for our
people of West Virginia,” the 3rd District congressman said.
“You are the ones that assure we can go
home at night, return home from wherever we’ve been and rest, put our heads on the pillow and know we are protected
and get a good night’s sleep. You do that at tremendous sacrifice, untold stories of heroism, untold stories of putting
your life in danger, not knowing what is going to be on the other side of the door, or in a car when you pull it over.”
The grant finances GPS devices for all 600 cruisers used by the State Police, and one distinct advantage is that can
save time, and gas in the process, by pinpointing exact locations of troopers’ calls, once the gadget is plugged into
a computer.
Money has become tight in the past four years, Lemmon noted, pointing out the agency spent $2.3 million
on gas last year, compared to $1.3 million two years earlier. In the same span, what the department shelled out for tires
rose from $112,000 to $265,000, he said.
“The cost of running a police organization or fire department is
humongous,” he said.
Lemmon said another means of enhancing communications — wireless broadband access
— is still some time off, but ultimately will improve the system so that it is more proficient across the state.
“In the long term, technology saves money by improving efficiency and effectiveness,” he said.
“But without a significant increase in the general budget to offset the rising operational costs that all agencies
incur, it brings about problems.”
Lemmon’s agency for now is striving for an interoperable system linked
up with 911 so that all first responders — including local fire departments and county and municipal officers —
can talk directly with one another.
Already, a dozen microwave towers have been erected at a dozen sites and more
are in the works, eventually making it possible for police to chat across the state, the colonel said.
“You
can be sitting in a car in Beckley and be able to talk to somebody over in Martinsburg,” he said.
Lemmon
applauded Rahall and the director of the Huntington-based Rahall Transportation Institute, Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, for
the GPS grant, but said the state needs more federal dollars.
Specifically, he called on Rahall to secure $5 million
from the Department of Homeland Security, with $1.9 million earmarked for wireless access so that two are positioned in every
county.
“Technology eliminates paperwork, down time with our people, rather than scratching on paper when
he’s out here on the road, doing the job,” Lemmon added.
Plymale agreed much more needs to be done
to enhance the communications network for first responders in the state.
“There’s a lot of challenges
with that,” he said.
“We’ve got a long way to go on that, but we’re on track to be able
to help in that respect.”
Source: REGISTER-HERALD
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