Police department contracts with technology security provider
A number of routine budgetary ordinances and appointments highlighted the Tuesday, Nov. 14, regular meeting of the Bellefontaine City Council.Council authorized on first reading temporary appropriations for the upcoming year. General Fund allocations totaled $11.99 million, according to the ordinance. Total spending for 2024 is temporarily set at $29.26 million.
Among other ordinances approved during the meeting, council authorized an increase in salary to $93,750 per year in an effort to jumpstart its search for a full-time prosecuting attorney in the Bellefontaine Municipal Court.
The court has been down to a single full-time prosecutor for about a month, and has not yet been able to fill the position. Part of the reason for the lack of candidates, council was told, was because the salary was not in line with other similar municipalities.
In a related action, council also authorized a part-time prosecutorial position in the municipal court at a rate of up to $40 per hour to provide up to three days per week of coverage in the court.
Salaries for both full-time and part-time prosecutors are split between the city of Bellefontaine, which pays 60 percent of the cost, and Logan County, which assumes the remaining 40 percent of the cost.
In other action, council also approved a renewal agreement between the Bellefontaine Police Department and Flock Safety for technology services.
Flock Safety is a company that provides public safety solutions to communities including law enforcement agencies. Their platform uses License Plate Recognition, gunshot detection and video to provide evidence for solving crimes.
The Flock Cameras are a fixed, pole-mounted license plate reader camera system. This system captures the rear image of a car and the car’s license plate number. The cameras read license plates and alert law enforcement officers when the cameras identify license plates that match those on lists of cars that are stolen or otherwise of interest to the police.
The next regular council meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28.