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Posted by Dave Peppard, Richmond (3/28/05): I am curious how many small town police depts., 4 to 6 full time officers provide cell phones in the cruisers and to individuals officers, such as the chief? Also, are the phones in the cruisers the hands free kit type? Also interested in who your provider is and approx. cost per phone per month or total yearly cost for the number of phones that you have for the police? Appreciate any feedback. Dave Peppard, Richmond

Responses:

Dave we don't have cruisers but we do have bike cops in the summer.
We provide them wth cellphones. We use Verizon. Within the next year Verizon will be doing away with anolog phones and going all digital. Along with the demise of analog is the large phones that we keep in rescue and fire trucks. These will end up being replaced with regular hand held phones that go into a automobile cradle unit which then allows them to be handsfree. Verizon has a govenrment contract and for $38 per month you can get nationwide long distance and all the features and 450 minutes. You get free phones too, and not those chepa tracphone type of phones either. Anyway I have a contact if you are interested. They have several other plans which are much cheaper than normal rate plans.(Derik Goodine, Naples)

The Town of Newport has two cruisers, each with a cell phone. Numbers are not given out to the general public. In this day and age, almost a necessity. They are hands free, the belief is that a police officer must lead by example. (RE: talking while driving) The chief has one of his own, an employment contract thing. Probably should be a discretionary thing with a towns select board. Cost per month for both cruiser phones is average of $100.00 through Unicel. (Paula Clark, Newport)

Lincolnville has one full-time police officer (the Chief) and several part-tiime officers. We provide the Chief with a cell phone that he carries with him. Primarily so I or Waldo County Communications can contact him 24/7. Our police cruiser is also equipped with a cell phone so that we can contact the officer on duty without broadcasting sensitive information over the radio. Our service is through US Cellular as it provides the best coverage in our area. (David Kinney, Lincolnville)