Grant Unshackles Officers From Desks

ST. ALBANS CITY –– Police officers here will be able to stay in the field and work almost entirely mobile under a six-figure federal grant announced Tuesday.

    U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., was in St. Albans City yesterday to present a $100,000 Community Oriented Police (COPS) grant that will enhance the city’s technological resources in its fight against drug crimes.

    “I’m delighted that we’re bringing this taxpayer money back to Vermont,” Welch said, flanked by city officers and officials during a brief press event held near the tennis courts in Houghton Park.

    The funds will help the St. Albans City Police Department, which dispatches for 38 area agencies, upgrade and improve its communications equipment. One example: the city will spend $30,000 on a tower/combiner that will put all those agencies on one frequency and erase interference.

    However, the city will spend the bulk of the money – nearly $33,000 – on six new “mobile data computer terminals,” more commonly known as laptops, that will allow officers to do everything they do at the police station from inside their cruisers.

    Currently, a 10-minute street arrest might equate to upwards of 90 minutes of paperwork for a city officer, said Gary Taylor, city police chief. An officer could easily spend 30 to 50 percent of his or her time in the office, sitting at a computer, dealing with those reports, Taylor said.

    With the new terminals, city officers will be able to complete that red tape but stay out on the streets, patrolling their beats. That means a bigger presence by officers in the city, and police presence is a proven deterrent to crime.

    “This is just another piece of the puzzle that’s going to help in our fight against crime,” said Marty Manahan, city mayor.