Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Deputy Mark Eastus demonstrates the new laser-guided radar gun that can plug into a unit that will download into a personal computer to provide a variety of data. Additional equipment funded by COPS is in the background.

COPS funding pays for equipment

By Michelle Alaimo

Saratoga sheriff deputies at the Westside substation recently spent $68,000 on new equipment and programs, thanks to the Citizens Options for Public Safety (COPS) fund which earmarks money for law enforcement.

The Saratoga Sheriff's Department now sports two new completely outfitted mountain bikes, four nightscopes, one laser radar gun, two camcorders, three preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) devices, two digital cameras and a multimedia computer. The money also will go toward bicycle patrols, training and a bicycle safety program.

The COPS fund was founded last July after Gov. Pete Wilson signed Assembly Bill 3229 into law. Money was earmarked on a per capita basis, which for Saratoga was approximately $2.30 per person. The law states that funding is for adding to the level of "front line municipal police services" and cannot be used to replace any existing funding.

"It's to help the whole community," the lead deputy on purchasing equipment, Mark Eastus, said of the COPS fund.

The Sheriff's Department submitted a proposal for the COPS fund last September to the City Council. The council approved the proposal, and Eastus was given authorization last month to spend the money. Deciding what to purchase from whom required a lot of coordination, Eastus said.

One of the first items purchased was the IBM multimedia computer system and two digital cameras. The cameras can be used in the field to track graffiti artists. The computer also will be used for presentations at venues such as fairs, council meetings and public safety days, through a joint venture with Cupertino.

A time-saving device that Eastus purchased is the Marksman Light Detection and Ranging Device, which allows deputies to pinpoint speeders, even in heavy traffic, and map out accident diagrams more accurately by using a laser beam, Deputy Ted Atlas said. Currently, it takes at least two deputies to map out a car accident scene; with the laser gun, a deputy can do measurements that will download into a calculator. The information is then uploaded into a computer program, which then maps out the accident scene.

Four nightscopes, purchased for the swing and midnight patrols, will also make life easier for deputies. Eastus said, "The nightscopes are useful in Saratoga because Saratoga doesn't have streetlights." In their proposal to the council, the Westside station staff said that approximately 90 percent of auto burglaries and vandalism happen at night.

By Aug.1, Saratoga residents can check out a camcorder for up to three days to document their possessions for insurance purposes.

The PAS units will be housed at Saratoga High School, Redwood Middle School and Prospect High School. Administrators will be trained to use the breathalyzers at proms or dances to make sure no one is driving drunk.

"It's not to check everyone," Eastus said.

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