Jeffersonville, Ind., Mulls New Mobile Police Command Center

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(TNS) — JEFFERSONVILLE — A new mobile command center for the Jeffersonville Police Department might be on the horizon.

The agenda for the Jeffersonville Board of Public Works and Safety meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday at city hall says the board will consider the approval of a resolution designating the special purchase of a mobile command center for the police department.

Assistant Chief Scott McVoy said this center, which is a C-35 Frontline Mobile Command Unit, will cost $1,284,457. It would be a vehicle that is more than 35 feet long, almost nine feet wide and have slide-outs that would create more room. It would be used for critical events, natural disasters, large events like Thunder Over Louisville and to assist other communities if needed.

McVoy said considering the city’s size and stature, a mobile command center is necessary.

He said the department now has a mobile command unit that is almost 30 years old. He said it was donated by the Fraternal Order of Police and has been retrofitted since then.

He said he has been requesting a new mobile command center in the department’s capital budget items for a while now, but the city’s council had prioritized other items over the years. In September, the council authorized the exploration to purchase a new vehicle within a set budget.

“It will be something our residents will feel a lot safer with,” he said.

McVoy said they were able to find a mobile command center that would be under the budgeted amount. He also said they worked with the company creating the vehicle, Frontline Communication, on the design and outfitting of it. However, he said they’ll be purchasing it through the Houston Consortium Group.

He said the unit will contain technology and tools for working out in the field, including communication capabilities, video surveillance, satellite and room for officers to potentially conduct meetings and interviews.

“Those are the types of things you need in the event of a large scale emergency,” McVoy said.

The unit could also serve as an alternative meeting place for delegates if something were to happen to city hall, or for 911 dispatchers to conduct their work if something were to happen to their office.

Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore said that although the command center might not have been especially needed decades ago, he feels the need for it is now more apparent.

“This is one of the tools we’re gonna use to make sure Jeff is safe,” he said.

McVoy said that once the letter of intent to purchase the vehicle is approved, this will essentially put the department in line for a vehicle to be built, which he said takes up to 20 months.