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Council approves $20,541 police computer purchase to equip patrol cars
Summary
Council authorized $20,541.20 to buy seven ruggedized laptops and one desktop for the police department, approving use of previous-year revenue/general fund to pay the cost after Chief Jay Murdoch detailed operational needs for in-car reporting and citations.
The Clinton City Council approved a $20,541.20 purchase to outfit police vehicles with ruggedized laptops and one desktop to support in-car reporting and citations.
Police Chief Jay Murdoch told the council the department handled 192 calls for service last month, opened 12 investigations and that several recent events (Scare on the Square, Moonshine Festival) ran without incident. He said October equipment no longer supports Windows 11 and the department needs hardware refreshes to deploy in-car terminals that allow officers to write reports and issue citations from patrol vehicles. "The quote was for seven laptops and one desktop for $20,541.20," Murdoch said in the meeting packet presentation.
Council members questioned the funding source; Murdoch and staff recommended using previous-year revenue/general fund balance. Following a motion and second, the council voted by roll-call to authorize the purchase and a budget transfer from previous-year revenue to cover the cost (Barnes, Hastings, Pistol, Ward, Williams voting yes).
The purchase will begin the department's move toward mobile report writing and vehicle terminals; staff said the laptops are ruggedized and under a planned replenishment schedule to avoid large future replacements.
