AUBURN – All police departments in Androscoggin County and some in Franklin County have been awarded a $935,000 grant to create a criminal intelligence network.
This money will provide all of the software needed for the departments to set up a system so police can access databases pertaining to criminal histories of suspects, Auburn police Lt. Jason Moen, who put the federal Department of Homeland Security grant application together, said Thursday.
“It’s a huge plus for us. It’s really big for us. All of the agencies will be able to interconnect,” Moen said.
The agencies include Auburn, Lewiston, Lisbon, Livermore Falls, Mechanic Falls and Sabattus police departments and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, and Carrabassett Valley, Jay, Rangeley and the University of Maine at Farmington departments in Franklin County.
What police see now, Moen said, are very mobile criminals who travel to different areas to commit crimes.
This network will give police the ability to check on suspects they’re dealing with to see what their criminal history is. They would be able to see if someone was arrested or had charges against them and other information.
The system also has the capability to send photos and fingerprints to other departments who may be dealing with the same person, he added.
“It gives us a huge technological capability to talk to one another,” Moen said.
All of the departments in Androscoggin County will be on the same software system, which will allow for better tracking of information, he said.
Currently Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department, Auburn and Lewiston Police Departments do not have the Information Management Corp. software, Moen said, but the other agencies in the county do.
Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike said Thursday his department did not join in on the grant application because it implemented software a couple of years ago that has been successful and is compatible with what is required of a 911 public safety answering point.
The total project was $1.8 million, Moen said, and that included mobile data terminal computers for those who didn’t already have them.
But it didn’t get fully funded, he said, so they’ll just work with the software now and next year, he’ll submit an application to get mobile terminals for departments in Androscoggin County.
Auburn, Lewiston and Lisbon Police Departments already have terminals in their vehicles, he said.
Moen said one of the reasons the application was successful was because it crossed two counties. He also said it wouldn’t have happened without support from others including Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy.
Moen said he is hoping a portion of the system will be operating by July 1, and the rest operating later in the year.
The intelligence network has potential to be expanded so police can query more than 600 police departments that have the software, Rangeley Police Chief Phil Weymouth said Thursday.
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