After several grants and an increase in police appropriations, the town of Frankfort Police Department has begun to grow.
Since the end of 2007, Officer in Charge James Getman has been planning and implementing increases in department hours and acquiring new equipment to update the department and its operations.
“It’s been very busy around here,” said Getman. “These are changes we must undergo to establish the services we want to provide to residents.”
Those changes include more than $100,000 spent to acquire a new vehicle, new radar systems, a license plate reader, in-car and station computers, Tasers and radios.
Through a $23,000 state grant, the department was able to equip three vehicles with Panasonic ToughBooks to put computers in the vehicles. The laptops are mounted inside the car and come with a scanner and printer.
The ToughBooks are loaded with a wide range of software so officers on patrol have access to any information needed.
Before getting the computers, the process of writing a ticket would take seven to 10 minutes according to Getman, but now the process is down to about three minutes.
The department received another state grant through Operation Impact for $22,000 to purchase a license plate reader, which scans and processes license plate numbers.
The reader is updated each day with a list of suspended license plates, missing persons, Amber Alert information, stolen vehicles and more. Many of these things wouldn’t have been detected before, said Getman. When a plate in the system is identified, an alarm goes off, alerting the officer.
With added funds from the town board, the department updated its radar system, which is able to detect and track speeds of vehicles ahead and behind the police car.
“It’s very high tech,” said Getman. “It has good features we’re able to use.”
The radar must be calibrated with a tuning fork and have internal tests done each day to make sure it is working properly said Getman.
A new Dodge Charger is expected to arrive next week and plans to obtain Tasers and radios are in the works.
“The equipment essentially duplicates officers. (The equipment) reduces time writing tickets, paperwork and we don’t have to drive back to the station (to process tickets),” said Getman.
He thanked Assistant Chief Michael Massey of the Little Falls Police Department for helping set up the new equipment.
The department has almost doubled its patrol hours per week, from around 100 before to upwards of 200 hours now, to cover the 40 square miles of town roadways.
According to Getman, the new equipment and hours have paid off. Call volume has increased by more than 100 percent, burglaries have decreased from around 60 at this time last year to 20 this year and traffic tickets have increased, although not significantly said Getman.
“We find we’re handling more complaints. People were reluctant to call before because they thought we didn’t have enough time. Now we are getting calls for four-wheeling, suspicious vehicles and fast-moving vehicles,” said Getman.
Getman said one of the problems the department has been running into is not having multiple officers on duty at the same time. The department has one full-time officer, Getman, and 16 part-time officers. Another full-time position is currently vacant.
Councilman Michael Testa said the upgrades are going well, which shows how the department is expanding.
“It’s really growing, they are doing a lot of work up there,” said Testa, who is on the board’s police committee. “All we are looking to do is build the department a little at a time.”
“The township needs a police department and we are taking baby steps to get there,” said Testa.
Councilman John Wallace agreed with Testa on the upgrades.
“Personally as a councilman and former police committee member, I am extremely pleased with how it is running,” said Wallace, who was on the police committee when the added appropriations were passed. “I would like to see more manpower in the future, but we are getting there.”
Supervisor Joseph Kinney said there is a balancing act with public safety and cost to the public, which translates into increased taxes.
The increased appropriations from the Frankfort Town Council came with a tax increase, the town’s first in 14 years. Each councilman voted in favor of the increase, while Kinney opposed the decision.
“My opinion is that we can assume public safety at a much lower budget exposure and appropriation and reduce the tax assessment on property owners of the town,” said Kinney, who added he does support public safety.
“I was thoroughly opposed by the taxes. The public would be better with a more modest approach to public safety as I proposed,” added Kinney.
Frankfort, N.Y. —
