ROCKINGHAM — Officers patrolling the city streets will soon have new on-board laptops in their vehicles.
The Rockingham City Council approved a resolution Tuesday to authorize Chief Billy Kelly to continue the process in a $20,000 grant application through the Governor’s Highway Safety Program.
Kelly said before the meeting that the grant has already been approved.
Part of the money will go toward the purchase of 11 new mobile data terminals for the department’s patrol cars. Kelly said the computers give officers the ability to run tags without having to call them in and check with dispatch.
The MDTs are also used to issue citations and have them entered directly into court system records without having to go through the clerk of court’s office.
In the past, the department has used grant funds to purchase other equipment to help with traffic enforcement, including radar guns and the digital speed sign currently on East Washington Street.
“That’s to get their attention as to what the speed limit is and how fast they’re going,” Kelly said.
The rest of the grant funding will be used to cover Kelly’s expenses as a law enforcement liaison through the GHSP.
The program has 11 regions located geographically throughout the state. Kelly serves as the liaison for the nine-county Sandhills Region, or Region 6, which covers Anson, Cumberland, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Richmond, Scotland and Stanly counties.
“There’s a lot of things I have to do coordinating with nine counties,” he said. “This allows me to do that.”
As a liaison, Kelly is the main conduit of information to the counties about enforcement campaigns (Booze It and Lose it, Click It or Ticket), grant information and other initiatives.
Kelly was recently named Law Enforcement Liaison of the Year at a symposium in Concord.
The chief also mentioned that the department was notified last month regarding approval for a $14,850 grant through the Governor’s Crime Commission for the purchase of officer body cameras.
Kelly told the council the goal is to get one camera for each patrol officer, to use in conjunction with the recently revamped vehicle cameras.
He said the department is currently testing two types of cameras and is not yet sure which one the RPD will choose. The biggest challenges, he told the council, were with storage and retrieval.
The funding from that grant will not be available until the last quarter of the year, he said.
Councilmembers also voted to:
• approve a $35,000 budget ordinance for the Uwharrie Tourism Marketing Analysis, with $25,000 from a N.C. Department of Commerce grant going to Magellan Strategy Group and $10,000 from the Richmond County Tourism Development Authority going toward other project management expenses (meetings, advertisements); and
• approve a demolition ordinance for a dilapidated house at 101 Zion St.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.