New body, dashcams likely inPosey County Sheriff arsenal

By Dave Pearce

While everyone is aware that prices continue to rise, not everyone thinks about the cost of crime. As food and fuel prices continue to rise, the more it costs to feed your family and the more it costs to feed, cloth, and house Posey County Jail inmates.

Along with the rising cost of nearly everything, the cost of safely and vigilantly patrolling Posey County streets and highways came with a new and different price tag in the Posey County Council meeting in early May. While the majority of the meeting was somewhat business as usual, the council was made aware of a large expenditure that seems will be handed off to county taxpayers in the near future, the cost of new body cameras and dash cameras in each Posey County Sheriff Department cruiser.

Outgoing sheriff Tom Latham joined his chief deputy Jeremy Fortune in explaining the necessity of the more high-tech equipment.

There was an officer-involved shooting in the county in recent months and according to the county’s top cops, the investigation took longer than usual for an absolute conclusion. As deputies attempted to reason with an armed man as he came their direction, the deputies took refuge, as they are taught, behind the door of their vehicles. The problem came when the investigation began, the body camera footage, taken at about chest height, only showed the inside of the door of the vehicle as the officers moved to the somewhat safer location.

It wasn’t until offices from the Indiana State Police came along and looked at the footage were they able to use the reflection off the backs of one of the vehicles to determine what had actually happened. But both officers know that in a similar position, they may not have that good fortune.

So the last item discussed in last Tuesday’s meeting was the purchase of the new body cameras and dash cameras at a cost of somewhere between just over a quarter-million dollars up to as high as more than a half-million dollars to provide the total protection the officers are requesting over a five-year period.

Members of the council asked the officers if they could compare pricing on the units but were informed that a very limited number of companies are able to provide the equipment at all and that AXON Company would be sending a representative to an upcoming meeting to explain to the council exactly what they would be getting for their money as well as answering any questions council members might have.

No action was taken at this meeting.

In other action:

• The Council approved the abatement request for the full request of property and equipment for Nix Companies of Poseyville. This was the second and confirmatory approval for the abatement.

According to Company President Matthew Nix and CFO Jared Baehl, the company which recently announced their plans to build a 12,000-square-foot home office for the corporation in Poseyville, has let a $30 million dollar bid since the initial informatory hearing for building in the new Farmington Ridge Subdivision which is now ready for builders.

District Four Councilman Zach George told members of the audience that since the abatement and the project were taking place in his district, he would lead the approval process for the locally-owned business that now expands to its fifth generation in northern Posey County. George made the motion to approve both the personal and real property resolutions. The council responded with a resounding unanimous decision.

• Posey County EMS Director Paul Micheletti appeared before the board and reported that there were 236 requests responses from his department in the month of April. There were 174 of those responses led to requests for services. The May income report stands at $146,995.82.

Micheletti also informed the Council that there is the possibility of losing as many as four employees to the new Evansville arrangement as the AMR ambulance service is no longer running and calls and runs are being taken by the Evansville Fire Department.

• Latham reported that the Posey County Jail is currently housing eight inmates from the Indiana Department of Corrections, 25 inmates from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department, and another 106 Posey County inmates for a total of 139. Money brought in for the month was $23,530.