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Police report: new patrol vehicles, body-cam translation and push for encrypted radios
Summary
The council heard a police department update about new patrol Tahoes in transit, adoption of body‑camera translation tools and a regional push to encrypt radio channels to stop public scraping of dispatch traffic. County grant funds may be used to help towns pay for encryption programming.
The council received an update from the police agency about several technology and vehicle upgrades.
Agency official (S4) said new patrol Tahoes are "in transit," and the department plans to trade in older vehicles and upfit the new units. "They're in transit," S4 said of the SUVs, adding the department will strip reusable equipment and trade in surplus cars.
S4 said the county is considering a grant program to help towns pay the cost of encrypting radio channels, arguing encryption would make it harder for public apps to publish dispatch traffic. "It's kind of, you know, like I told mister Friend, it's kind of a pay me now or pay me later," S4 said, framing encryption as an officer-safety investment.
S4 and Agency official (S6) also described a body-camera translation feature, demonstrated recently in the field: "It it takes a minute to get used to, but it is spot on," S4 said of the translation software. S4 said the system auto-detects a different language, translates it on the camera, and begins recording the interaction when activated.
The report also covered interagency training and shared equipment: S4 said the department participated in countywide VR and mental‑health training and has been in discussions with neighboring agencies about sharing the new training systems.
The council discussed next steps for coordinating towns on encryption and the details of any county formula to allocate grant funds; S4 said the council will return in two weeks to review the county proposal. The council did not take a separate vote on encryption funding at the meeting.
