IVANHOE?- There was a time, about a century ago, you could probably get by with paying a nickel for the tin star and $10 per month in sheriff’s salary if you were a small town in the Old West.
Now the badge runs upward of $5 and you can imagine a salary or look it up online, but that’s not the only thing a county sheriff needs to uphold the peace and safety of his or her county. Updated computer aided dispatch systems can save time, money and lives.
Lincoln County Sheriff Chad Meester met with some hesitation on the part of the county commissioners when presenting his 2017 Budget Request, which includes a line item expenditure for a Zuercher Technologies, LLC’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
In spite of his extensive research and the report stating that there was a possibility of sharing a server with Nobles County, which would save Lincoln County $40,000 to $50,000 for that part of the equipment, some of the board members are not so sure the update is needed.
Meester cited concerns such as the dynamic technology field. While Zuercher, based in Sioux Falls, offers a 5- to 6-year service plan with the equipment, the ever-changing technology field has people concerned about how soon the “new” computer system will be obsolete again.
Connecting that with the second biggest concern of a declining population, the question becomes “Who’s going to be around to pay for the next one?”
When segments of society, such as city or county residents, become so small, they find they have to share resources and services in order to continue to function. This is one of the main reasons Meester looked into sharing a server.
Another reason was the effort to give his deputies and dispatch the equipment they need to do their jobs with efficiency and accuracy.
“Basically, what we’re trying to do is provide the tools so our dispatch can handle the complicated calls better,” Meester said. “Generally, there’s only one person on dispatch. Techniques haven’t changed much over the years, but the calls have gotten quite complicated.”
A tour of Lincoln County Dispatch illustrated a multi-screen computer set-up with computerized maps and two telephones connected to the system. It wasn’t the holographs and touch screens people see on television detective shows. Of course, that’s not available, yet, but Zuercher is.
Zuercher is a branch of TriTech, acquired in August, that is used in areas like Fargo-Moorhead that allows their dual law enforcement work cohesively across state lines. Both Zuercher and its sister company, LETG, have a long-standing history of quality service, and TriTech is helping Zuercher to expand into the law enforcement industry.
In Lincoln County, the system would allow a deputy reporting to a light roll-over accident to process the report from his vehicle. The system would auto-populate certain areas of the report from the dispatch information and allow him to print out the completed report for the driver’s insurance company by the time the tow truck arrived. And, just as quickly, send the report to the state without having to report back to the county office to file the report. It is able to do all this because the system has its own air cards and Wi-Fi. The time saved could save the life of someone else in an accident within the time frame of processing the report.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department includes six dispatch personnel, and six deputies as well as the sheriff. The Zuercher system would have a positive influence on their jobs, according to Meester.
“We need that computer program,” he said. “Our current system is 14 years old, and the mapping system’s age is unknown. Zuercher would streamline the system.”
Meester added that it was just time to upgrade the system, and that Zuercher would modernize it, giving the department the capability to handle the new data streams from the body cameras that have been added to their accoutrement.
“Photographs of crimes scenes and audio recording could be uploaded to the county, all in one neat little package,” he said, “instead of several emails or on a disk.”
The estimated cost for the complete system and mapping for the sheriff’s office on Sept. 27 was approximately $126,000.
Some of the expense could possibly be covered by the 911 funds that were not used last year.
“Nobody wants to raise taxes anymore than we have to,” he said. “Using the left-over 911 funds would mike it as less painful as possible.”
Meester said that he has provided his deputies with updated training in various areas because he thinks society is expecting it.
“We’re expected to know things we didn’t have to 10 years ago,” he said.
Meester said that Zuercher would make that possible and should be considered a routine upgrade.
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