HomeMy WebLinkAboutIII (D) Approval to Use Traffic Surcharge Funds for In-Vehicle Reporting System Project Plan Agenda 5-21-2002
Item III D
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Ocoee Police Department
' 175 N. Hluford Avenue• Ocoee, FL 34761 • (407)656-15 l R • Fax (407) 656-02 In
TO: Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners
FROM: Robert E. Mark, Chief of Police ��
DATE: May 2, 2002
SUBJECT: Use of Traffic Surcharge Funds for In-Vehicle Reporting System Project Plan
STAFF REPORT
ISSUE
Should the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners authorize the use of$81,404 in
Traffic Surcharge funds for furtherance of the In-Vehicle Reporting/Silence Dispatch Project Plan.
BACKGROUND
The Ocoee Police Department is a culturally diverse agency with 66 sworn officers, 18 full time
civilians and 10 part time civilians on staff. Our department, which currently serves a population
of over 26,000, is broken up into divisions and sections designed to better serve the community.
Our agency has forged ahead into the information age with the purchase and installation of a
Computer Aided Dispatching and Records Management System. This system was successfully
integrated in under six months and is now used jointly by the Police and Fire Departments. This
system provides a means by which to track events, trends, and other Police/Fire activity within the
City. The community benefits directly from this by way of having public sa fety services that possess
the information management tools necessary to adapt and change with a growing community.
DISCUSSION
Several years ago a Traffic Surcharge Ordinance was created for the Orange County area to fund the
County's participation in all intergovernmental radio communication program. This effort was to
assist all local and county governmental agencies with the high cost of integrating to the current 800
MHZ radio system. The County collected the money and distributed it to the appropriate
governments and Ocoee currently has $81,404 available that must be used prior to July 1,2002 at
which time a new legislation is being introduced and is expected to pass that will make it mandatory
that the money collected through any Traffic Surcharge Ordinance may only be used by the County
in which it is collected for the radio system within the jurisdiction.
Staff Report
May 2, 2002
Page 2
Previously through Grants and Forfeiture money, the Ocoee Police Department was able establish
and put into motion the current in-vehicle reporting package. Our department is continuously
seeking funds to augment the purchase of equipment for the in-vehicle reporting system that will
allow police officers continuous"real-time"access to critical data as well as being able to he silently
dispatched to any call. These laptops used in the in-vehicle reporting system allow officers to spend
more time in the community and less time in the station writing reports.
The funds will be used to purchase an additional twenty-one(21)laptop computers with the required
software, 13 Docking Stations, 10 Air cards,and 13 high capacity batteries for radios. The purchase
of this equipment will enable our department to replace the existing broken unusable equipment and
further enhance the process of expanding the project.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners approve
this request to use Traffic Surcharge funds in the amount of S81,404 for furtherance of the In-
Vehicle Reporting/ Silence Project Plan.