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Committee funds half of cell-phone forensics equipment, green-lights security pay bump and supports additional dispatch staffing
Summary
The committee agreed to fund half of an initial Cellebrite cell-phone forensics purchase, discussed upgrading a courthouse security post to a Class 1 officer (county to pay difference) and supported two additional dispatch-related slots; staff to provide exact half-cost to finalize.
Chesterfield County Finance Committee on May 7 agreed to fund half of a first-year purchase for Cellebrite cell-phone forensics equipment and to support several public-safety staffing and equipment items contingent on final cost confirmations.
Spence (Sheriff’s Office) and county staff discussed the Cellebrite system — a commercially available device used to extract data from cell phones — and presented cost estimates. The first-year equipment and training package was described as roughly $36,000; committee members and sheriff’s staff discussed splitting the first-year cost with the Sheriff’s Office so the county would fund approximately half in year one (roughly $18,000) and carry a smaller recurring annual licensing/usage cost in subsequent years (roughly $9,000 annually, depending on capacity chosen).
Sheriff’s staff and committee members described lengthy turnarounds from external vendors and SLED (State Law Enforcement Division) when agencies rely on outside extraction services; committee members said local capability could reduce investigative delays in serious criminal cases. Staff emphasized that a search warrant would still be required for forensic extraction and that the device would be used only in legitimate criminal investigations.
Separately, the sheriff requested that a security officer assigned to the county building be a Class 1 officer rather than a Class 3. The sheriff said a Class 3 must be supervised by a Class 1 and recommended the county cover a pay differential of $5,208 to make the assigned officer a Class 1; the committee agreed to cover the difference so the building would have a Class 1 on post and backup coverage.
The committee also discussed two additional slots for dispatch/assistant technical support assigned to the county’s emergency communications; committee members supported funding two positions to reduce radio and call-handling burdens now borne by the county’s primary 911 center, and asked staff to approach municipalities to consider cost-sharing where legally permissible.
Sheriff’s staff also told the committee the department would transfer an existing van for coroner transport to county use, avoiding a separate vehicle purchase. The committee approved funding half of the Cellebrite initial cost for the first year pending staff confirmation of the exact half amount and source of one-time funds.
