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Rowlett council approves replacement of patrol-vehicle laptops to maintain security compliance
Summary
Council approved replacing in-vehicle patrol laptops with rugged Dell units to maintain CJIS compliance and avoid Windows 10 end-of-support. Staff cited next-business-day warranty support and a planned lifecycle replacement; the purchase passed 6–0.
Rowlett City Council voted unanimously Aug. 5 to approve staff’s recommendation to replace aging in‑vehicle laptops used by the police department.
City staff told the council the current devices are nearing the end of mainstream support for Windows 10 and are prone to failure; the recommendation was to procure 33 rugged Dell laptops (patrol units plus two traffic units) through a cooperative purchasing contract. A staff presenter said the package includes devices, docking stations, vehicle holsters and vendor warranty/support that provides next‑business‑day, on‑site service.
Sergeant Klinger, the department's special operations sergeant, told council staff had surveyed peer agencies and "the best package that we could find with Dell is coming from their support side" and that the warranty arrangement reduces downtime for vehicles. Staff described a planned 3–5 year refresh cycle and recommended the purchase come from technology hardware (noncapital) funds in the general fund.
Council asked procurement and warranty questions during the presentation; the motion to approve the purchase passed unanimously 6–0.
Amount: the agenda listed a 'not to exceed' dollar figure for the contract; the transcript includes inconsistent numeric rendering of that figure. The agenda packet should be consulted for the official contract amount and purchase order details.
