With two trustees admitting they had “turned 180 degrees” on the subject, the Village Board on Thursday unanimously approved spending up to $20,000 to equip the Police Department with a Police Information Management System, or PIMS.
According to Police Chief Randy Walters, the system will link his department with other police agencies on the network, providing officers in the station and in squad cars with virtually instant information on potential suspects or trouble spots. “This is leading-edge technology,” he said.
About 50 law enforcement agencies are already on the system, including Joliet, Rockford, Metra and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, as well as nearby Lake in the Hills, Fox River Grove and Crystal Lake.
The $20,000 will finance hardware and installation. After that, participation will cost the village $14,000 per year, Walters said.
Sitting in for vacationing Village President James Dhamer, Trustee Charlie Becker said, “I really was against this at first, but I’ve come 180 degrees, I’ll be the first to admit it.”
Trustee Jack Todd echoed Becker’s sentiments, saying he changed his mind to favor the expenditure “after reviewing costs of our present dispatching (system) and conferring with the chief.”
Walters said the system should be “up and running by mid-March.”
By joining the network by the end of March, the village will save nearly $1,000 that normally would be charged by Ameritech for installation of a computer data-quality line into the police station, according to the chief.
