Laptop in patrol car cuts down on paperwork time for deputies

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SIX MILE - Six Mile council members want to help deputies assigned to the area spend their time patrolling the streets, not stuck in office filing paperwork.

To that end, members approved a motion to provide the deputy assigned to patrol Six Mile with a laptop in his patrol car.

"The Pickens County Sheriff's Office, with (Sheriff) David Stone's great help, helped us get police officers up in town," said Councilman David Yongue. "They spend at least 40 hours a week up here."

A year ago, town council purchased a radar gun for the Six Mile deputy.

"That's been a great benefit," Yongue said. "It's done some great stuff there on slowing down the majority of the traffic."

The Sheriff's Office is pursuing grants to outfit some of their patrol cars with the laptops, Yongue said.

Providing the deputy with a laptop would be a great advantage to the town, he said.

"They wouldn't have back to the Sheriff's Office to log in and out," he said. "If they pull somebody over, they don't have to get on the radio and wait for the dispatcher to tell them the license plate number. With the laptop computer, they can do all that themselves."

The town will provide the deputy with a laptop and the special support that fits in the car, Yongue said.

"Total cost would be $2400," he said. "That would save them gas; that would save them time. That's more time they could stay in the community."

The money could come from a CD earmarked for future public safety, said town clerk Eleanor McGuire.

Having a Sheriff's deputy patrol Six Mile saves the town money, said Mayor John Wade.

"I looked into hiring our own policeman," he said. "It'd be prohibitive with our money.

It's saving us somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000.

Council voted unanimously to purchase a laptop for the patrol car, for no more than $3,000, with the money coming out of the CD.