Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission approves facial-recognition, key-control and IT backup contracts; tables telecommunicator hires pending regional talks
Summary
Commission approved a prorated $7,000 ClearView facial-recognition contract and a $3,959.80-per-year KeyTrak key-control system, renewed a $49,021.68 ThinkGuard backup contract, and agreed to table creating two telecommunicator positions until further regional coordination; Telecommunications Director Freddie will serve as temporary training captain until retirement.
The St. Clair County Commission approved several public-safety and IT contracts and discussed staffing for central dispatch.
Chair introduced a prorated $7,000 contract with ClearView to expand facial-recognition capability for the sheriff’s office to compare surveillance images with wider image sets, including social and news media. Chair acknowledged privacy concerns raised in the meeting but said the tool has helped identify suspects; the commission approved the contract pending county-attorney review and a budget amendment.
Separately, the commission approved a $3,959.80-per-year contract with KeyTrak to manage keys and audit checkouts for jail and county facilities. Staff said the KeyTrak system could be expanded to manage spare parts and access control and will improve auditability of keys.
The commission also approved renewing ThinkGuard backup services for three years at $49,021.68 to protect the commission office server and data.
On staffing, Telecommunications Director Freddie (named in the meeting) told the commission he is retiring and proposed being retained temporarily as a training captain to prepare a replacement. The sheriff requested adding a deputy to backfill expected promotions. The chair and staff added a request to create two telecommunicator positions to the agenda but then moved to table action on those positions for two weeks to coordinate with the regional 9-1-1 board and Blount County’s dispatch arrangements. Commissioners explained it takes six to eight months to fully train a telecommunicator and preferred to finalize staffing after regional discussions.
Why it matters: The technology contracts touch on privacy and operational policing practices; dispatch staffing decisions affect 9-1-1 capacity and response. The committee deferred full staffing action until further coordination with regional partners.
What happens next: Contracts will proceed pending county-attorney review; telecommunicator staffing actions will be revisited after the scheduled regional meeting and at the next commission meeting.
