Elkhart City board approves police evidence migration, advertising contract and task-force agreements

The Elkhart City Board of Public Safety on May 26 approved several police department contracts and interagency agreements, including a DIMS evidence export, a recruitment advertising contract and participation in federal and regional task-force partnerships.

Chief of Police Andy Whitmire told the board the department wants to extract evidence from its legacy DIMS system and move files into the department’s current evidence-management software to improve short- and long-term access. “DIMS is an old evidence software program we use that we have moved past,” Whitmire said, explaining the purpose of the migration. The board approved a DIMS data-export conversion listed in the meeting packet at $20,000 and authorized Captain Snyder to sign the document.

Whitmire also presented a proposed advertising agreement with WNDU to support recruitment and positive messaging for the department. The board approved the WNDU advertisement agreement, recorded in the packet at $35,000, and again authorized Captain Snyder to sign.

The board considered a renewal identified in the record as the Evolve Express (Motorola) service that maintains concealed-weapons-detection equipment located on the first floor of the city building. The renewal was described in the packet as a two-year option with a service fee; the board discussed that the vendor had provided both two- and four-year quotes and chose the two-year option. The amount in the transcript appears as "44,0005" and was not clearly recorded; board members discussed line-item service fees of about $3,100 for two years that appear in the packet. The renewal motion carried.

Whitmire described an agreement with the U.S. Secret Service to allow one Elkhart City officer to serve as a task-force officer (TFO) with limited access to federal investigative databases to support investigations into internet crimes against children. He said the agreement is at an entry level that primarily provides database access rather than additional local manpower. The board approved the agreement; Whitmire noted legal had reviewed the document though a formal stamp was not included in the packet.

The board also approved an agreement enabling federal reimbursement of payroll and overtime costs when officers participate in certain federal task-force operations, and it approved membership in the Indianapolis Cyber Fraud Task Force, a regional intelligence-sharing group focused on cyber fraud and related trends. Whitmire emphasized the cyber-fraud membership is mainly for information sharing and routine meetings rather than a manpower commitment.

All police-related motions were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote with no roll-call tallies recorded in the minutes. The board did not record public opposition during the discussion. The police department’s items were presented consecutively; documents for each contract and agreement were approved with authorization for Captain Snyder to execute them on the department’s behalf.

The board moved on after concluding the police department’s agenda items; follow-up actions include finalizing contract documents and ensuring legal’s formal review stamp is captured in the record where needed.