The Madison Police Department is slated to receive $1.5 million for technology upgrades in a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Madison Mayor Sue Bauman announced Wednesday the House passed the bill to allow MPD to install new laptop computers and video monitoring units in squad cars.
Baldwin and Kohl, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations, identified the funding for MPD as a priority.
Kohl praised the action of the House and said increased technological efforts are important for police departments.
“Technology like this helps our officers get fast and complete information while they are on the scene, so it makes law-enforcement efforts that much more efficient and effective,” Kohl said in a news release. “I’m pleased the House agreed to make this investment in the Madison Police Department.”
Bauman made the request because the MPD is using outdated equipment.
“Presently the laptop computers we have in squad cars are 1970s vintage, and they are pretty limited in the databases they can access and use,” Ryan Mulcahy, press secretary for Bauman said. “Also, we don’t have video technology in squad cars.”
The funding will outfit every squad car with new laptops that will work with current and future monitoring standards, bar-code scanners and Global Positioning Systems. Video equipment will also be installed in order to document every incident where a car is pulled over.
“It’s going to put a laptop in every car, there are 64 in the fleet, and every traffic stop will be filmed and saved on tape?so we can critique the officers and the behavior of [people] who [are] stopped or detained,” Mulcahy said.
Although Bauman requested funding, there was no guarantee the funding would be granted, as each year many requests are made and denied.
“We get requests for many projects from many places, and its up to the congresswoman what she wants to prioritize,” Jerilyn Goodman, press secretary for Baldwin, said. “Getting any of this money is not easy. It takes a lot of advocacy and fortitude.”
Bauman realized the complicated nature of securing funding and expressed gratitude to Baldwin and Kohl.
“We feel very fortunate that we were deemed appropriate to receive the equipment,” Mulcahy said. “We are very gratified by their efforts.”
The bill requires passage by the Senate and the President. Baldwin, Kohl and Bauman do not foresee any problems because the joint conference committee agreed upon the bill passed by the House Wednesday.
“We are very hopeful, because once it comes out of the conference committee it means both houses have already agreed,” Goodman said.
