Armstrong 911 to get software to check for outstanding warrants

KITTANNING -- Armstrong 911 dispatchers soon will be able to more quickly provide information on drivers wanted on warrants when police officers make routine traffic stops.

County officials have approved adding software to the 911 Center's computer-aided dispatch system that will give its operators access to a single database with all outstanding warrants.

"Within two or three seconds we'll have a response back to the officer," said 911 director Ron Baustert. "It will keep from letting someone go that has warrants."

Baustert said checking for outstanding warrants currently means the 911 operator must make three different contacts. They have to call the county jail to check on a database through the court, check a separate database for warrants for domestic relations and run the information through the state police database, he said.

"We're looking to merge those separate lists into one that's incorporated into our CAD system using the new software," Baustert said. "It will eliminate the extra phone calls and holding on the phone for five minutes."

"A police officer can only hold someone at a stop for so long," said Baustert, who also is a police officer.

The added software, that will cost $10,000, will not be paid for directly by county taxpayers. It is financed using "wireless money" allocated by the state from the $1 surcharge collected on cell phone bills to help fund 911 centers.

The county implemented a new CAD system last year, replacing the old system. New World Systems, a public safety software company headquartered in Troy, Mich., provided the system and will add the software that interfaces the bench warrant lists.

The initial system costs about $370,000, paid for by a "wireless money" grant from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. An additional $55,000 for later options was approved at that time.

"This was one of the options in the original contract," Baustert said. "We waited to add it once we had the system running. Now we can."

It will be a couple of months before the new software is operational, he said.

"This will make the dispatchers' jobs easier, help us respond better to police and keep officers safer by warning them of what warrants there are on an individual," Baustert said.