Dearborn Heights Police get $130,000 grant to secure new equipment
Paul Vanderplow
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich (WJBK) - The Dearborn Heights Police Department announced last week that the department will soon receive some $130,000 in grant funding to help offset costs relating to the purchase of new equipment.
The funding will come from the City’s insurance carrier, the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA).
DHPD Director of Support Services, Paul Vanderplow was pleased with the financial support, and the prospect of the enhanced level of service his department will provide with the new acquisitions.
"Thank you again to MMRMA for their generous investment, along with Chief Jerrod Hart, Mayor Bill Bazzi and those City Council members who supported this initiative through their vision and commitment to support the Dearborn Heights Police Department’s mission of partnering with the community to better serve its residents and businesses and helping build the organization into a truly World Class law enforcement resource," he said.
The equipment will help recoup costs associated with the Department’s implementation of its Operational Recording System, which includes additional body-worn cameras, its in-car recording system and interview room recording systems. Additionally, the funding will support the implementation of the Department’s recently-announced StarChase System – a GPS-based mapping/tracking system that will enable officers to launch/attach a GPS tracker onto a fleeing suspect vehicle from a pursuing patrol vehicle, allowing the officers to track the location of the suspect vehicle via GPS mapping – greatly reducing the risks associated with vehicle pursuits.
While the recording systems are already fully operational, the department looks forward to the deployment of the new StarChase tracking system in the coming weeks.