ERPD Chief J.R. Reed _ I  was recently notified by the United States Attorney Eastern District of Tennessee, Mr. William Killian, that the Office of Justice Programs has awarded the FY 2015 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to the City of East Ridge Police Department in the amount of $10,500 to purchase computer mounting equipment for police vehicles. This is fantastic news for this project and helps tremendously.

The East Ridge Police Department has ordered 14 new laptop computers with in-car mounts in order for officers to stay out in the field longer all while getting much needed paperwork completed, officials said Tuesday.

Currently, the officers have to return to the station to complete incident reports, arrest reports and crash reports on desktop computers. This will cut down on the officers’ time off the road, catching offenders and help with response times to calls of service.

With the implementation of the new in-car computer systems, officers can stay within their assigned districts while getting reports written as well as running driver information within the system to check for offences or outstanding warrants. This makes the officer more efficient and helps them to have needed information while in the field.

These computers were purchased with a combination of Federal Department of Justice Grants and the sale of outdated/surplus equipment and vehicles.