Board OKs new vendor, repairs to vehicle, transfer to PEMA fleet
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
The Plainfield Police Department will upgrade its digital fingerprint system.
On April 2, the village board approved purchase of a new vendor to support the department’s currently Livescan system. Livescan is the digital fingerprinting system used for arrests as well as to capture prints for items including fingerprinting for employment reasons.
Police Chief John Konopek said the current vendor who maintains the system is not keeping up their part of the deal.
“Because out current vendor has been providing less than ideal support, we have looked to other vendors,” Konopek said. “[The new vendor is] able to provide an update to our Livescan system, it would require them to implement some of their own equipment because of their specific products that they utilize. But, over the course of the next three years, compared to what we are currently paying, it will actually save us in costs.”
Plainfield’s IT Director Rick Kaczanko said support called on various occasions to the previous vendor was unable to properly maintain equipment once they arrived on site, leading the village to seek out different support options.
Kaczanko also told the board there were some frustrating miscommunications with the most recent vendor, and since that company was Minnesota-based, it wasn’t always easy getting someone in site.
The new contract will be with iTouch Biometrics of Schaumburg, at a cost of $20,960. Annual costs after the initial cost will run the village $1,980, versus the previous annual contract of $6,030.
Meanwhile, the board approved a motion to authorize the repairs of a 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe from Webb Chevrolet, at a cost of $7,500. The department plans to transfer that vehicle once fixed to the Plainfield Emergency Management Agency (PEMA).
“This vehicle was used within the police department and experienced a serious problem with the engine. It currently has 95,000 miles on it, so it was a vehicle that we were going to replace in the police department anyway,” Konopek said. “However, the vehicle is actually in very good condition body wise, interior wise, the biggest problem with the vehicle is that the engine is kaput, for lack of a technical term. So, we came up with the idea that our EMA, we basically get hand-me-down vehicles most of the time, and these vehicles that we get last us in excess of 10 years. Some of them, we’re still driving 15, 18 years later. So, the 2012 Chevy Tahoe, being in such good physical condition, minus the engine, we had the idea that if we could get authorization from the board to replace that engine, we could transfer it over to PEMA and get 10-plus years of additional usage.”
Konopek said PEMA is in need of some new vehicles, so transferring a police department unit would be a good addition to the PEMA fleet.
Cash for those repairs will come from the police department’s maintenance fund, as well as forfeiture funds.