Agency says funding will be cut 48 percent

The county's police chiefs have put together a $390,000 proposal.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- Money for mobile data equipment for emergency personnel is on hold as the Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency waits to hear more about funding cuts.
Linda Beil, EMA director, said the agency has learned that its funding through its Homeland Security grant will be cut by about 48 percent for this year. The grant brought in $818,000 in 2005. She said a 48 percent cut would take funding back to 2003 levels.
She said one thing on hold is an effort by two police officers in the county police chiefs' association to buy mobile data terminals and software for police cars. She said her agency has to complete a survey for the Ohio EMA, and receive a response to it in March or April, before deciding anything more about whether it can fund the mobile data terminals this year.
Project backing
Chuck Sayers, Bazetta Township police chief, said the chiefs' association is backing the project, which has been shaped into a request for about $390,000 for about 67 cars to be equipped with the units. He and Capt. Tim Bowers of the Warren Police Department have headed the effort.
The units give officers access to a multitude of computerized records and e-mail capabilities. Especially important is its ability to tie into data that gives officers information from a driver's license, and information about warrants and criminal background, Sayers said.
The terminals would also allow officers to complete reports from the cruiser and call up existing police reports.
Information on property ownership available through the county auditor's Web site, criminal data on court Web sites, maps and building diagrams also could prove useful to first responders going to an emergency, Sayers said.
"We want to have the best information out to officers in the field as possible," Sayers said.
Warren and Liberty Township police already use the terminals. Liberty Chief Tony Slifka said he hopes his township's allotment of terminals would be used to replace units that no longer work.
Aid in identification
He said one of his department's greatest uses for the units has been to help officers on the road obtain photographs of people, to help them identify individuals. "It will open a lot of doors and make us more professional," he said of officers across the county.
The system will also cut down on radio traffic, Sayers said, because information now gained from a dispatcher over the radio could be acquired directly by the officer. This also makes each officer more productive and cuts down on the work load of dispatchers and the 911 center, he said.
The terminals will also aid in a number of ways in the event of a large-scale disaster, Slifka said. For instance, the e-mail function of the units would allow departments to send out messages to help coordinate the efforts of the different departments.
"In a worst-case scenario, if we had no voice communications, we could e-mail," Sayers added, noting that these communications would be in real time, meaning there would be no delay in receiving the messages.
The police chiefs agreed the best way to determine how the terminals would be distributed across the county would be to give one for each cruiser that patrols the county on average. The total number of units would be 67.
In other words, each community would get one unit for each car it has patrolling roads on average, Sayers said.
Sayers said the units are also useful for fire departments and ambulances, and he and Beil said they hope the program can be expanded over the years to include terminals for fire vehicles and additional police vehicles.
Once the equipment is purchased, additional monthly costs such as cellular fees will have to be paid by each department, Sayers said.
Recommended by consultant
A consultant hired by the county last year to look at improving the county's 911 system recommended the mobile technology. Beil and Slifka said they believe having the equipment will put Trumbull County slightly ahead of other counties in the state.
Beil said the mobile technology is not the only program that could be cut because of the Homeland Security grant cut. For example, local police and fire departments were asked to submit a list of their needs.
She has not yet looked at their requests closely, but some fire departments are asking for generators. These purchases will also have to be put on hold, she said.
runyan@vindy.com