DARLINGTON - At the Lafayette County Law Enforcement Committee meeting held Tuesday, Nov. 15 Gerald Heimann called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
    Tower Project – Sheriff Reg Gill explained ComElec is in the final phase of the project. Right now they are implementing and fine tuning the simulcast module of the project. Gill gave examples of a Blanchardville officer talking on portable radio to an officer in Benton and the signal was plain as day. It’s really working fantastic. Places like Gratiot, Calamine - places that signals didn’t get out of before. The townships and Highway Department are all done. The fire side will be done the week after Thanksgiving and after that we should be all up and running. The project should be done.
    The bill for the excavation of $4,300 was agreed to be split four ways between Sheriffs, Highway, Emergency Government and ComElec.
    Spillman Project – Gill said today was the first day of patrolman/officer training. They will train the rest of this week. The next weeks training is for dispatch/jailers. Gill said, “It’s going very well, we’re ahead of schedule.” There will be changes made to the dispatch room to allow for the needed equipment. Theresa Burgess, Sheriff Department Lieutenant, said she has four bids for new furniture for the room. There should be enough money budgeted to cover the furniture.
    LanguageLine – the Sheriff’s Department has implemented the LanguageLine Service. This is a complete translation service over the phone. It’s a straight 72¢ per minute to use. There’s no contract or monthly fees. If there is a non-English speaking 911 call, dispatch will call the number and will be in conference call mode. The department will also have flip-phones for all of the squads, that will have the LanguageLine 800 number in it, so at a non-English speaking person traffic stop they will be able to open the phone and have an interpreter in the palm of there hands.
    The committee paid the monthly bills - $35,876.
Emergency Government
    Theresa Burgess, Emergency Government department head, stated there are a couple of projects that have requested assistance.
    Decontaminate – right now there is a large decontaminate tent, used to decontaminate a large group. It takes five or six people to set it up, so it’s not very practical for an isolated incident.
    Burgess spoke with different emergency response groups and it was thought a small decontaminate shower that could be folded up and used at a scene could be bought. A motion was made to give Burgess permission to purchase a portable decontaminate shower unit for $1,100 max. Approved. The unit will be housed in the Rural Medical bay.
    Radios - Shullsburg Police Department asked for help with communication within the Shullsburg School during an active killer situation. The school has been very diligent in doing drills and being prepared for a situation. Shullsburg Chief Josh Jerry has noticed a problem with communication within the school. Phones are not in all parts of the building and the thought is to have portable radios to remedy the situation. The project will cost $2,400 for twelve radios. The committee approved $1,000 for the project.