PEA RIDGE — Using technology to enhance their effectiveness and be more efficient, Pea Ridge Police have recently upgraded on three areas.
“We are pursuing new technologies and doing it with minimal cost to the city,” Police Corporal Ryan Walker said. “We are providing a benefit to the city and the citizens.”
“We got some new equipment and technology that we’re starting to use at the Pea Ridge Police Department,” Walker said, explaining that just recently, the department and court began using video court.
“Basically it’s software that we have on a lap top that enables us to talk to inmates at the Benton County Jail if they have a court appearance,” Walker said, explaining that in the past, when an inmate had a court appearance, police officers had to drive to theBenton County Jail, pick up the inmate, take him or her to Pea Ridge, and later return him or her. That took a minimum of two trips and if there were several inmates, it may involve more than one officer and more than one car.
“With video court, it’s similar to being face to face. It eliminates the risk of taking the inmates out of jail,” Walker said, as well as saving time and money.
“The Benton County Jail has had the camera and software for a couple of years. We purchased the software using money from the court system,” he said. The cost was about $160. “We already owned the laptop with built in camera.”
Judge John Skaggs said he had already used this at other courts over which he presides and likes the system.
The Police Department received a donation of a laptop from Wal-Mart store on Pleasant Grove and the store manager, Brent Rains. It has been installed as an Arkansas Crime Information Center terminal. ACIC is the state agency responsible forproviding information to law enforcement.
Previously, whenever someone failed to appear for court or committed a crime, a warrant had to be issued for their arrest and a police officer had to drive to Bentonville to the Benton CountyCentral Communications dispatch office to enter the warrant into ACIC.
“Now we can enter it ourselves without leaving our office,” Walker said.
“We can also research additional information for cases without calling dispatch.”
Having the ACIC computer also allows officers to check on any other outstanding warrants for persons coming to court.
Walker said the department has also added another antenna to the top of the water tower improving the effectiveness of the police department’s radio reception.
“In the past, whenever we talked to dispatch (CENCOM), the radio signal ran through a repeater based in Centerton. Now, we have a mock repeater on one of the water towers that picks up the signal, boosts it, then sends it to Centerton, and then relays it to dispatch. It’s basically amplifying the system both to us and from us, which has dramatically improved our radio reception,” Walker said.
Prior to adding the new antenna, reception was very difficult and even impossible in some areas and especially as officerscrossed the state line into Missouri.
“We’ve had pursuits that crossed into Missouri or close to the state line. We simply could not get out on radio. We were limited at best,” Walker said.
The additional radios, antennas and cabling cost about $4,500 and about $2,000 of that was provided by a state grant received from Josh Billis, director of emergency communications for Benton County.
“We’re still looking at other opportunities to improve our communications system,” Walker said.
News, Pages 1 on 03/02/2011