DECATUR — The meeting of the Decatur Park District’s Board of Commissioners introduced a couple new additions to the community.
Jim Underwood was sworn in as the newest commissioner, filling the seat of the late Robert Brilley II, who passed away June 27. The term will expire in April, when Underwood plans to run for a full six-year term as a commissioner.
His first responsibility during Wednesday’s board meeting was to vote on the approval of six in-car video cameras for the park police.
“We are looking at increasing our technology here at the park district,” said Chief of Park Police Erin St. Pierre.
The new Axon Fleet cameras will capture images from the front of the vehicle as well as of the rear passengers. The new technology was funded through a Howard G. Buffett Foundation grant. “So we already have these funds allocated for these cameras,” St. Pierre said before the vote.
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For the grant request, St. Pierre provided the foundation with a list of needed items. The current body camera system offers the basic technology required by the state of Illinois. “But this fulfills our needs better,” she said. “We have moved towards a more technological-forward department to include computers in our cars, for example. This is advancing with it.”
The cameras and equipment will cost approximately $110,000. Additional funds have been reserved for spare radios and an off-road side-by-side police vehicle.
The body-worn cameras will have the ability to integrate with the in-car video camera system. When the overhead code lights are turned on, the body-worn cameras will turn on as well.
The newest technology will allow the park department to expand law enforcement safety, St. Pierre pointed out. The Decatur Police Department works with the same system, she added.
“But it’s business-as-usual. My officers are sworn law enforcement officers,” St. Pierre said. “This just gets us closer to where we should be as an agency.”
PHOTOS: Decatur parks through the years
1936: Shown is part of the crowd of WPA employees who gathered around a radio in Central Park on a Saturday afternoon to hear a broadcast by Harry L. Hopkins, national administrator.
1969: A Decatur motorist is about to run over a "sleeping policeman" in Fairview Park. The "Sleeping policeman" is a raised bump in the road meant to slow down drivers on the winding park roads.
1992: The Fairview Park Caboose, burned and vandalized, was cut up for scrap. Decatur Park District employee Lynn Cooper throws a piece into a dumpster. Sol Tick & Co. did the work.
1992: It wasn't exact ideal weather for stringing lights when Darcie Leffler and Susie Schuman, executive vice president of the Downtown Decatur Council, decked the park with its annual Christmas lighting display.
1968: Dan Nelson, 9, of Decatur rides through Fairview Park, staying within the bounds painted by the Decatur Park District workers recently as a protected area for joggers, walkers and bicycle riders.
1961: The Civil War monument in Decatur's Central Park is shown.
1988: Dee Musgrave waves from sleigh during a trip around Decatur's Central Park.
1985: On a recent day in Decatur's Fairview Park, dad, Greg Jones of 202 N. College St., was hitting flies to sons Ryan, 5, resident Cubs fan, and Eric, 9, a Cardinals fan.
1985: In Decatur's Fairview Park, dad Greg Jones of 202 N. College St. was hitting balls to sons Ryan, 5, resident Cubs fan, and Eric, 9, a Cardinals fan, of course.
1989: Cameron Barnett, 3 1/2, perched on the shoulders of his dad, Dave, studies an exhibit Saturday at the Downtown Decatur Art Fair in Central Park. The fair, featuring everything from oil paintings to pottery to jewelry, continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
1936: New buses of the Decatur City Lines, which will replace the I.P. & L. Corp. transportation system were displayed to downtown shoppers at Central Park.
1936: New buses of the Decatur City Lines, which will replace the I.P. & L. Corp. transportation system were displayed to downtown shoppers at Central Park.
1931: This aerial view of downtown Decatur shows the Citizen's Building and Central Park.
1984: This aerial view of downtown Decatur shows Central Park in the foreground and Sears to the left.
Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR
Donnette Beckett
"Together Decatur" Columnist and Food/Drink Reporter
