Police Get Computer Grant

Three Buffalo Grove police squad cars will soon have upgraded computers, due to a grant from the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System.

The $20,502 grant will allow the department to upgrade some of its existing technology, Sgt. Mike Szos said.

"We have several older laptops that are in need of updates and the parts are hard to find," he said. "Six years in technology is ancient."

The new computers, which are expected to be in place this fall, offer the same features as the department's existing machines, which allow officers to access state and national crime file and intelligence databases. The updated versions, though, will work faster. And because they will work better with the in-car printers, it will take less time for officers to issue traffic citations, Szos said.

Twenty Buffalo Grove police vehicles are equipped with computers. Szos said the replaced computers will be kept for spare parts, and other cars will receive new computers "on a case-by-case basis."

"If a computer crashes, at least we'll have a couple of backups on hand," he said.

ILEAS is an intergovernmental coalition representing more than 900 Illinois law enforcement agencies. The organization, which has issued more than $3 million in grants to those departments, receives the funds from Federal Homeland Security Grants through the Illinois Terrorism Task Force.

Buffalo Grove has applied for a series of other grants, Szos said, including funds to cover additional staff, the department's canine unit and bullet-proof vests.

"We apply for a lot more than we get, but we're trying to be vigilant and trying to get as much from the federal and state government as we can to help unburden the community," Szos said.