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Bandera marshal reports increased patrols, new tech partnerships and a $22,500 grant for cameras and laptops
Summary
The marshal’s office reported activity stats for August, a $22,500 Peterson Foundation grant to buy body cameras and laptops, and a new data‑sharing partnership with FBI/CJIS via NDEx that staff said will help rural agencies access broader records.
At the Sept. 24 City of Bandera council meeting, the marshal’s office presented monthly activity numbers and described recent technology and interagency partnerships intended to improve rural public‑safety capabilities.
The marshal reported that in August deputies handled about 90 calls and completed 668 security checks, and that patrols drove approximately 3,962 miles in the month. Staff said average dispatch‑to‑arrival times for priority calls in a sampled month were about 2 minutes, 7 seconds.
The marshal announced a $22,500 grant from the Peterson Foundation that will fund docking stations, laptops arriving that week, and additional body cameras so each deputy can have an assigned camera instead of sharing. The marshal said the technology investment should improve evidence capture and upkeep of equipment.
Staff also described a new partnership with NDEx, a national law‑enforcement data‑integration platform started after Sept. 11; the marshal said NDEx currently receives contributions from about 8,554 agencies and holds roughly 1.4 billion searchable records and that the city’s access could assist investigations and interagency searches. The marshal said the department had also conferred with their cop‑sync vendor Sologic and the FBI/CJIS on data‑sharing integration.
Why it matters: the investments and partnerships are intended to boost investigative tools for a small, rural agency that previously had to share equipment. City officials framed the grants and partnerships as ways to expand capacity without adding recurring operating costs beyond equipment maintenance.
What’s next: staff will deploy the new laptops and body cameras, finalize connectivity with NDEx and continue to report technology and response metrics to council.
