Fayette County State's Attorney Presents Equipment to St. Elmo PD

(FAYETTE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNY JOSHUA MORRISON AND ST. ELMO POLICE CHIEF BROCK RICH)

Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison has presented St. Elmo Police Chief Brock Rich with a new set of vehicle spike strips.

The spike strips come after multiple occasions when vehiclepursuits from other jurisdictions have entered into the St. Elmo area. Within the past year, this includes pursuits by Shelby County, Fayette County, Altamont, and Terre Haute Indiana Police Departments. Because of St. Elmo’s geographical location, they are in a position to assist other agencies and deploy spike strips on major routes including Route 40, Route 128, and Interstate 70. Spike strips are only used in forcible felony situations and offer a safer alternative to stopping/disabling a vehicle attempting to flee.

Additionally, Morrison’s office recently provided the department with a new digital camera, interview room recording equipment, and in car radar unit. This new digital camera and radar unit replacesequipment that was out of date and beginning to fail. The improvement to the interview room come after the City of St. Elmo approved renovation of the room as a whole. These cameras allow recording from both sides of the room, as well as audio, to a secure hard drive and has proven beneficial in investigations. The St. Elmo Police Department interview room is available for use by other area agencies as well and has been used by the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, Illinois State Police, DCFS, and One Hope United. The site provides a central location for multiple agencies to meet.

This system also allowed the city to place additional cameras on the front of the St. Elmo Police Department building. The goal is that the cameras will be set up to provide a safe “Meetup Spot” or an Internet purchase exchange location that is video recorded to help provide a secure area for citizens.