Aberdeen police department in need of new computers

The Aberdeen Police Department is trying to raise money for new computers.

A volunteer IT worker with the police department has started a Go Fund Me account to try and help raise money.

“I was, frankly, a little appalled just because of how old the equipment is,” said James Heiser, who started the account. “It’s a mish-mash of different brands, some of which really shouldn’t even probably be running in a business environment, some of which they don’t even manufacture anymore.”

Most of the computers at the department are ten years old, with some being even older than that. All the computers are different brands and have no central server. With no central server, data can’t be shared across computers.

Storage space for records and evidence is also very limited and not sufficient for what the department needs. Aberdeen police chief Charles Carroll said the outdated system makes his officers less efficient in some aspects than they could be.

The department received five body cameras, one for each officer, through a recent grant from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office.

Carroll said the body cams have been a great help so far, but they can’t be as successful as they should be without a proper system to run them.

“With all that video, digital media, or evidence, our system here is totally inadequate in order to get all that evidence to the prosecutors,” Carroll said.

“With an older computer, you just don’t have the horsepower or the memory to make that happen in a timely manner,” Heiser said. “It gets done, but we’re wasting a lot of the officers time waiting for these events to take place.”

Carroll said they already have a lack of storage space, and video evidence from the body cams takes up a lot of space on its own. So they need a system that will allow them to store everything they need.

Heiser said the current computers are so old and low-quality that the average person probably has something better right in their own pocket.

“I think most people in the area probably have smart phones or tablets that are more powerful than the equipment we have here in the police station and they’re expected to do a professional job with outdated and outmoded equipment,” Heiser said.

Carroll said he understands there are a lot of needs out there and he respects that. He said the city did budget some money previously to try and help with storage space, but they need a whole new system that’s adequate for the department’s needs.

Heiser said he understands it’s a small farming community and people work hard for their money. But he said every dollar counts, so he wants to encourage people to contribute what they can.

“Considering what the officers do to protect our community, to me, this is money well spent that you can be sure will be going to a good cause,” Heiser said.

The target goal is $17,000. Heiser said that amount will cover a laptop for each of the five officers. It will also cover the cost of a few desktop computers for the office, a server, and licensing and software.

As of Wednesday, the Go Fund Me page had raised $25 for the department.

The Go Fund Me page for the police department can be found here.