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Council approves purchase of six police mobile data terminals to meet security update deadlines
Summary
Council approved replacement of six in-car mobile data terminals (MDTs) after vendor warned existing units will no longer be supported; purchase will be funded via a police budget transfer.
The Hooksett Town Council on April 23 approved a request from the police department to buy six new mobile data terminals (MDTs) for patrol vehicles to replace units that will lose software support later this year.
Chief (recorded in the transcript as "chief, chief of police") told the council the current MDTs are more than a decade old and will become inoperable when updated security requirements make the department’s software incompatible with the older hardware. The police requested $33,030.13 for six replacement units from a sole-source vendor; the chief said the purchase will be made via a police-department budget transfer.
Councilors asked where the transfer funds would come from; the town administrator said the department will fund the purchase from a police salary line due to current understaffing and that a formal line-item transfer will be made. The chief and administrator said the purchase had been anticipated in previous IT planning but a warrant article to fund IT purchases did not pass at town meeting.
The chief also told the council the older MDT batteries previously caused two vehicle fires at other agencies and that the new units reduce that risk. The council approved the purchase and authorized the administration to complete the transfer paperwork.
The council asked the police to provide final invoicing and a transfer order at the next meeting.
