GPS devices get OK for Sorrento vehicles
Cruisers, tractors, truck to be monitored
SORRENTO â The Town Council voted 5-0 to hire Acadian Monitoring Services to attach GPS tracking devices to municipal police cruisers and maintenance tractors in a move to closely monitor their operations.
The cost would be about $257 per Global Positioning System device as well as $23 a month for each device served by AT&Tâs network, Steven LaPorte, a representative of Acadian Monitoring, a division of Acadian Ambulance, told the council Tuesday.
LaPorte said the devices would record police response times and give officials instant locations of employee vehicles.
The information in each GPS tracking device can be saved for up to 120 days, LaPorte said.
Police Chief Earl Theriot Jr., who will serve as GPS system administrator, said the town has seven police cruisers, three tractors and one truck that will be equipped with the devices.
There is no way to contact or locate maintenance workers who may be cutting grass on tractors all day, because the vehicles are not equipped with radios, town officials said.
The GPS devices also would determine how many miles each vehicle has been driven, when it is time for maintenance and improve employee productivity through constant reporting to superiors, LaPorte said.
The tracking devices can be programmed to alert officials if a vehicle leaves its specified range or goes above a certain speed limit, Theriot said.
The devices would be installed immediately on the vehicles, he said.
Other matters before the council included:
TOWN DOCUMENTS: Mayor Pro Tem Randy Anny announced documents and paperwork related to town business soon would be electronically scanned and made available to view during future Town Council meetings.
Anny said the move is part of an effort to make town business more transparent to the public.
Mayor Wilson Longanecker Jr., who is recovering from February foot surgery that has left him unable to attend to town duties, was absent from the meeting.