Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department will get a new scanner that will take measurements of crime and crash scenes accurate to within a millimeter. The move was approved by the county commissioners at their meeting Tuesday morning.
Sheriff Rocky Goshert and deputies Chris McKeand and Josh Spangle talked to the commissioners about the system from FARO Technologies.
McKeand said it will be a time-saver in that it will take measurements in a few minutes, rather than hours. As an evidence-gathering tool, the system will go into greater detail than the current method of taking measurements by hand.
“I know that would be useful,” said commission president Bob Conley, who once served as a reserve officer with the sheriff’s department. “You think you have all the measurements possible, then you get to court and there’s two that got missed somehow.”
McKeand said that the device will make it easier and safer for the FACT team to investigate crashes, as team members will spend less time blocking traffic and working around moving vehicles.
The $71,994 price tag is about 30 percent lower than when the department looked into the system three years ago. McKeand said the manufacturer has found ways to cut production costs for its product and is passing along the savings to customers.
He added that while agencies in areas with a larger population might use the scanner daily, it would be used 20 to 30 times a year in Kosciusko County.
Goshert said the funds will come from the commissary account, which will have excess funds for 2018.
