Erie Police Department awarded $1M in grants for new tech
In today's day and age, technology is advancing in both the ways officers respond to and solve crimes. According to the deputy chief, this funding is much needed for the department.
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Erie City Council met wednesday morning and on top of their agenda, four grant ordinances were on the line for final passage.
'We had money that is being allocated through grants and just making sure that went through was a unanimous passage,' said Tyler Titus, vice chair of Erie City Council.
Half of those grants approved were for the Erie Police Department.
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The city applied for the Encouraging Innovation Program through the Department of Justice and was one of three municipalities in the nation to be approved.
One million dollars will be used to fund an additional auto theft detective position for their unit.
'We have a technology coordinator now that we didn't have 20 years ago. With technology changing obviously we as the police department need to change as well,' said Rick Lorah, deputy chief of police for the City of Erie.
This is a full-time position for three years and will include travel for extra training as well.
Another grant that was approved during the city council meeting was an upgrade to police equipment which included license plate readers integrated into the dash cam.
Nearly $82,000 will be used for the vehicles' computers and batteries for handheld radios.
Deputy Chief Lorah said these technologies can be expensive but important to keep up on.
'LPRs, in-car cameras, body cams has not only helped us solve some major crimes in the city but it's helped a lot as far as prosecuting criminals that are committing crimes in the city. Keeping up with technology is an extremely important aspect of policing in America as well as here in Erie,' Lorah went on to say.
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Deputy Chief Lorah said things like this usually take time but they plan to post the position soon.
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