A majority of members of the Lake County Council appeared to signal Thursday that they'll authorize a transfer within the sheriff's previously approved budget to fund the FLIR-brand device when the question officially is before the council Tuesday.
Vincent Balbo, chief of the sheriff's police, told the seven-member council that the device, made only by FLIR, is essential to ensuring the sheriff's department is able to promote public safety and aid individuals in need.
"Very often we're called out to do searches and it's during nighttime hours or low-light hours, and this actually picks up heat registers of individuals," Balbo said. "It's frankly a critical piece of equipment, not only for land but also on the water, allowing our helicopter to be able to find, primarily, victims that we're looking for during particular searches."
Balbo said the new device will incorporate technological improvements made since the current FLIR equipment was installed in the sheriff's helicopter in 2009.
"It's a specific piece of equipment that's not only used by law enforcement, but used by the military to do what we do on a regular basis," Balbo said.
Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, initially bristled at the hefty price tag: "That piece of equipment is $500,000? Holy smokes."
But Niemeyer and the rest of the council ultimately appeared to acknowledge the benefits of, and need for, a new light and camera system on the sheriff's helicopter.
The county council also is poised Tuesday to authorize another transfer of $619,881.50 within the sheriff's existing budget to enable the sheriff to begin the process of replacing all the security cameras in the Lake County Jail.
Balbo said it will cost several million dollars and two or three years to replace all the jail's cameras, which he said are old and outdated.
"It's a big facility and all those things have to be replaced. Those are all the original pieces of equipment that are put in there," Balbo said.
He explained the initial funding will go toward replacing the cameras on the jail's first floor, with the cameras on higher floors replaced when more money is available.
"It'll make the jail a safer place," Balbo said.
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