Insurance agent Charlie Vaught, left, presents a check to Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little and Town Manager Dan Cartwright, right.
A worker’s compensation insurance agency for municipal employees recently awarded two grants to local public safety agencies.
The Indiana Public Employers’ Plan, Inc. awarded a $23,800 grant to the Edinburgh Police Department and a grant worth about $1,900 to the Franklin Fire Department.
The grant will allow the police department to buy two drones and about eight bulletproof vests for reserve officers, said Doyne Little, Edinburgh police chief.
The drones, which will be piloted by Little and Deputy Chief Hector Mercado, have unlimited possibilities for law enforcement applications, Little said.
The drones have thermal imaging, take pictures and video, and come with multiple attachments such as a flash beacon to alert other aircraft in the area and a speaker to broadcast and record sound during searches for missing people or suspects fleeing law enforcement.
With air coverage, searches will be more efficient. The drone will also help with crash investigations. It can be programmed to fly in a pattern and at a speed that replicates a car crash, Little said.
“The sky is the limit as long as you have the experience to fly it,” he said.
Little and Mercado are working on additional training and plan to get drone pilot licenses to be able to use the drones for even more law enforcement and public safety functions. For example, once they are licenced, they will have the skills to fly above a burning building to give the fire department a look at the roof without deploying a ladder truck, Little said.
The eight bulletproof vests will replace vests that are already in use but will soon need to be replaced. Bulletproof vests must be be replaced every five years to maintain effectiveness, he said.
The Indiana Public Employers’ Plan, Inc. also awarded Franklin Fire about $1,900 to replace existing gas detectors. The equipment is present on each fire truck, and is used to detect the presence of multiple types of noxious gases, said Matt Culp, Franklin fire chief.
The Kokomo-based worker’s compensation insurance agency works with more than 700 public entities including cities, towns, counties and schools. Grants are available to those insured by the agency as a way to increase employee safety and bolster public safety budgets, according to a news release.
