Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris said the 26 laptops, donated Tuesday to the department by Centerpoint Energy, will allow deputies to complete reports from the scene of an incident — helping save on time, fuel costs, and wear and tear to patrol vehicles.
“Sometimes when deputies travel on a call like going to Longtown, it might take them 20-30 minutes just to get there," Morris said. "And if they have to take a report, instead of coming all the way back to the office to do the report, they will be able to do it there."
“It’s going to come real in handy for our guys," Morris said.
Morris said the department has the mounts, brackets and chargers for the laptops.
He said the department will only have to fabricate a stand for each vehicle, but was not worried about the expense.
“That’ll be minimal cost," Morris said. "We’ve got some reserve deputies and maintenance guys that can probably do that."
The sheriff said the department will also look into getting internet access for the laptops and a virtual private network setup so deputies can have access to online law enforcement records in the field.
“We’re working on getting costs for that now,” Morris said.
Morris said anyone can donate to the sheriff ‘s office at any time, either by stopping by or through the Pittsburg County Sheriff Foundation.
He said donations made so far have gone toward safety equipment for deputies.
“They needed ballistic vests, holsters, and communications,” Morris said.
The sheriff said the department is working on improving communications.
“We’ve about just got enough money raised for that, we’ve actually got it out for bids,” said Morris. He estimated the cost of improving communications in the department is $25,000-$30,000.
Morris said the southern end of the county is a problem spot for communications.
“Sometimes these guys don’t have communication with dispatch and that is definitely a safety hazard for our deputies,” the sheriff said. “Once we get that in then we will probably start raising the money for body cams and keep moving out technology forward.”
“We’re slowing getting there,” said Morris.
©2019 the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
