SAN FERNANDO : Police Seek Grant for Mobile Computers

The San Fernando Police Department has applied for a $150,000 federal grant to purchase mobile digital terminals, computer consoles that allow officers to run background checks on suspects faster.

If awarded the grant, the department would receive an additional $40,000 in matching funds from the city, Chief Dominick Rivetti said.

The federal funds would come from money made available to small cities to promote community policing. Currently, the department’s patrol units lack the terminals used by larger departments, including the Los Angeles Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s departments, Rivetti said.

As a result, San Fernando police officers must call a single dispatcher to obtain information on a suspect’s previous record. Rivetti said officers sometimes wait up to 15 minutes for the dispatcher to clear previous calls, taking up valuable time.

If the grant is approved, the department would purchase 10 terminals, which officers could use to directly access databases for the criminal or parole status of suspects. In addition, the consoles can be used by officers to file reports from the field.

“The MDTs are more efficient,” Rivetti said. “They will give us more time by letting us run checks and do reports (quickly). That allows us to spend more time in the field.”

Under the same federal grant program, the department applied for $60,000 in overtime funds, which would be matched with a city grant of $16,000, Rivetti said. The money would be used to pay for officers to spend more time “networking” in the community, meeting with community organizations, church groups and city workers.

“The idea is to keep the communication lines open as much as possible,” Rivetti said.

Word on the grant application is expected in June.