Chatham-Kent Chief of Police, Gay Conn, introduces board members to the new command centre. September 11, 2018. (Photo by Greg Higgins)Chatham-Kent Chief of Police, Gay Conn, introduces board members to the new command centre. September 11, 2018. (Photo by Greg Higgins)
Chatham

CK police unveil new command centre

Policing in Chatham-Kent just got a whole lot more efficient with the addition of a new mobile command centre.

The state-of-the-art vehicle was unveiled Tuesday morning at the Chatham-Kent Police Service Board meeting. According to Police Chief Gary Conn, it wont just be for police business and will serve multiple purposes for any emergency.

He said it would have been handy during the recent flooding in Thamesville.

"To have had this resource we have out back there today, it would have just made it that much easier to deal with an incident of that nature," Conn said. "We as an essential emergency service are involved extensively with the municipality's fire and EMS service. When there is an emergency we get together and make a plan, this could certainly be utilized."

That being said, Conn added it most certainly will be used for police situations and will really help out in hostage and missing persons situations. The police chief said it will come in the most useful at critical incidents where police will be in the area for an extended period of time.

Conn gave an example of a hostage incident in Dresden where he was forced to turn one of the cruisers into a command centre, which isn't optimal.

"It makes it that much more difficult," Conn said. "The situation is challenging to begin with, but then [add to it] trying to command it from, I believe in that case it was an Explorer."

The command centre has a 2018 International Dura Star 4300 truck body. It is 41 feet long and 18 feet wide when deployed.

According to Conn, the most useful tools may be the extendable antenna with a camera mount that could zoom almost a full kilometre in any direction and the centre has a direct link to the detachment's drone.

"One of the monitors [in the command centre] is just for the drone itself," Conn said. "So we will be able to see what is going on at the scene that we are dealing with in real-time."

Conn added it will take minimal training for officers to use the command centre. He said it only requires a Class D license to drive, which many officers already have. The police chief added the generator runs off the truck's fuel tank and can keep the truck fully operational for four days without needing to be refuelled.

Those in attendance at the board meeting got a good kick out of the toilet. According to Conn, it is an "Incinolet" which uses a small incinerator to burn waste, eliminating the need for a water tank.

Conn said the detachment budgeted $750,000 for the command centre, but believed they went under budget on it. He added it will cost roughly $25,000 to $30,000 a year to maintain it and expects it to have a 15 to 20-year lifespan.

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