2008 Woodie Awards
City police granted in-car camera
Nick Wilsey
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: News
Kirksville's finest are about to get some new toys.
Thanks to the city's membership in a statewide insurance pool association, Kirksville will receive a $6,370 grant for the purchase of one dash-mounted police camera and several personal alarm devices for the fire department, according to the Nov. 6 City Council agenda.
Jeanie Ewing, risk coordinator for the city of Kirksville, said more than 60 communities in Missouri joined together in a pool called the Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association to buy collective general liability, property, auto and workers' compensation insurance. Each year, MIRMA offers its members the opportunity to submit funding requests for items or programs that will promote safety for city employees or the public.
"We've been fortunate enough to have a hydraulic jackhammer purchased one year, and we've got items for our police and fire departments before," Ewing said. "In the public works we've done, we've used a shoring and trenching box ... where they're putting in water mains or sewer mains."
Ewing said other items have included confined-space equipment such as winches, harnesses and meters that measure air quality.
"They accept any and all items that members can dream up, but the committee then selects things they believe are the most beneficial not only to the members but to the organization," Ewing said.
This year, only one of the city's three requests - an item for the Kirksville Aquatic Center - was turned down, Ewing said. The other two requests were granted, and MIRMA will reimburse the city up to 75 percent of the cost, she said.
Kirksville police chief Jim Hughes said the first item funded by the MIRMA grant is a dash-mounted camera that will be installed in one of the six patrol cars in the city's fleet.
"I think most people are familiar from all of the reality police shows the kinds of images you get from a car-mounted video system, so this will be consistent with that," he said.
Thanks to the city's membership in a statewide insurance pool association, Kirksville will receive a $6,370 grant for the purchase of one dash-mounted police camera and several personal alarm devices for the fire department, according to the Nov. 6 City Council agenda.
Jeanie Ewing, risk coordinator for the city of Kirksville, said more than 60 communities in Missouri joined together in a pool called the Missouri Intergovernmental Risk Management Association to buy collective general liability, property, auto and workers' compensation insurance. Each year, MIRMA offers its members the opportunity to submit funding requests for items or programs that will promote safety for city employees or the public.
"We've been fortunate enough to have a hydraulic jackhammer purchased one year, and we've got items for our police and fire departments before," Ewing said. "In the public works we've done, we've used a shoring and trenching box ... where they're putting in water mains or sewer mains."
Ewing said other items have included confined-space equipment such as winches, harnesses and meters that measure air quality.
"They accept any and all items that members can dream up, but the committee then selects things they believe are the most beneficial not only to the members but to the organization," Ewing said.
This year, only one of the city's three requests - an item for the Kirksville Aquatic Center - was turned down, Ewing said. The other two requests were granted, and MIRMA will reimburse the city up to 75 percent of the cost, she said.
Kirksville police chief Jim Hughes said the first item funded by the MIRMA grant is a dash-mounted camera that will be installed in one of the six patrol cars in the city's fleet.
"I think most people are familiar from all of the reality police shows the kinds of images you get from a car-mounted video system, so this will be consistent with that," he said.
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