NEWFANE, Vt. (AP) – Officials in some towns that pay for police coverage by the Windham County Sheriff’s Department have been wondering whether they’re getting all the patrols they’re paying for.

Now Sheriff Sheila Prue has decided to answer that question with a new computerized accountability system for her deputies.

“We are still in the learning curve phase, but this is a very precise instrument and the towns should get accurate accounting,” Prue said.

The new system uses a Global Positioning System to track cruisers and will report to the towns using a secure Internet connection, officials said. It will match those data with detailed billing records.

Putney Town Manager Chris Ryan said the new system should answer concerns about sheriffs’ patrols.

“It has been hard to track where they have been,” Ryan said. “There has been a big outcry over this and it seems like they (the sheriff’s department) are attempting to address it.”

“The Select Board has wondered if we have been getting our money’s worth,” he added. “My impression from the meeting is that she (Prue) is on the right track and this is a way to get a handle on it.”

Questions about the patrols have surfaced as the department is under scrutiny on several other fronts. State Auditor Randy Brock is looking into the department’s finances, while the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council is reviewing complaints that recruits don’t get proper training.

Prue said an added benefit of the system is that it will automate some of her officers’ paperwork, which in turn will “increase the time officers spend in the communities.”

“All of the material the officers require to complete a case or respond to an emergency has been downloaded to the computers,” she said.