By Stacey Tucker
Staff Writer
CASS CITY — After more than a year since receiving a $25,000 Homeland Security grant, the Cass City Police Department has new communication equipment installed in their cars and in the office.
Cass City Village Manager Peter Cristiano commended the efforts of Cass City Police Chief’s Craig Haynes on obtaining the grant.
“Thanks to the persistent efforts of Craig Haynes, the department received through the county, federally purchased computers and police radios,” Cristiano said. “This is a grant that was received after four years of pursuing the grant.
“The four hi-tech, heavy-duty computers will replace the old computers in the police cars and the office.”
Haynes said the laptops in the police cars would normally cost around $1,000 to replace, but their new laptops cost approximately $4,000 each.
The heavy-duty laptops lock into mounts in their patrol cars and have streamlined the way they record data. Haynes said everything now is done electronically.
“I keep nothing here anymore on a hard drive,” Haynes said. “I can do reports from home on the weekend.
“It’s a good system that will keep everybody well informed in the department.”
The rugged computers can be dropped from a height of three feet and once locked into the mount in the patrol car, anyone looking into taking the computer would have to rip the vehicle apart to do so.
“It’s a nice piece of heavy duty equipment that will serve them well for four to five years,” Haynes said.