By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson city council held their regularly scheduled meeting on September 10, opening the meeting with an awards ceremony and recognition of several officers who went above and beyond the call of duty protecting the city and its residents. (Full story in last week’s edition.)
Later in the meeting, though, council discussed better ways to support the police in securing the critical evidence the officers collect in the course of their duty.
Corporal Craig Hankins of the Grayson Police Department addressed the council and spoke to them about managing and securing evidence seized and secured by the police department. Hankins, a retired federal agent who now works full time at the Grayson Police Department, has been appointed as evidence custodian. In that capacity, Hankins said that his goal was to streamline the process of taking in and managing evidence.
Hankins told the council that with the collaboration of the chief of police, the mayor, and the city council the police department was able to get a 100 percent audit of their evidence room.
“The results of that audit were outstanding,” Hankins said. “Nothing was missing and only a couple of minor changes had to be made.”
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
“We are working on 20th century technology to track our evidence,” Hankins told the council. “But for today, in the 21st century, we need a better system.”
Hankins said that he spoke with Greenup County Sheriff Matt Smith, and that the company that did the Greenup audit (as well as the Grayson audit) recommended the PMI Tracker system.
“This system is designed by cops for police officers and police departments,” Hankins said. “It is used all throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. And it has also been proven and accepted in the court system for evidence tracking.”
Simplifying evidence logging and tracking reduces or eliminates lost or stolen evidence, Hankins said, and reduces agency liability. The new system, which is scanner and barcode based, also eliminates the need for officers to fill out forms by hand and makes every evidence label uniform. The officers involved will of course be different, but Hankins said that the information itself will be of uniform quality. And the new system will record not only evidence, but assets as well.
The cost for the basic setup that includes software, asset management module, one corded barcode scanner, barcode printer, one year of technical service, and a license allowing for the use on two computers came in at a cost of $3,125. With a wireless barcode scanner (which facilitates field management) instead of the wired scanner, the cost would be adjusted to $3,376.50. The savings in man hours alone would be considerable, Hankins said. It would eliminate a large portion of the overtime hours he needs to work without the proposed software and equipment.
The council voted to purchase the new evidence and asset management system using funds split fifty percent from the general fund and fifty percent from opioid funds, if applicable, or with funds drawn 100 percent from the general fund.
In other action tourism director Lana Axtell presented her report to the council and made the council aware of the planned events and entertainment for the upcoming Oktoberfest in Grayson on October 26.
“We will be having a parade and a pageant,” Axtell told the council. “And we are also doing a mullet and beard competition.”
Axtell also discussed future plans for the tourism cabin.
“We have an offer to rent the cabin, and I am sure we will discuss that at the upcoming Tourism Commission meeting,” she said.
Council also addressed issues with the presence of dirt bikes and ATVs on the city walking path. These motorized vehicles are not allowed on the walking path, and violators could be fined and have their vehicles impounded by the city for operating them on what is clearly marked as a pedestrian trail. Operators of the motor vehicles could also be held liable for any damage done to the property by their vehicles.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
