From the Office of the Sheriff Sheriff Dennis L. Dotson

For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE

Date: April 4, 2007

On March 27, 2007 our Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received notice that they were successful in receiving a grant from the Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program (CEDAP) and will soon be receiving a Thermal Imager. CEDAP is sponsored and funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Grants and Training (G&T). The value of the Thermal Imager is $10,553.14.

The Thermal Imager requires no light for operation and detects temperature variations allowing deputies to view heat signatures of objects, people, and other sources. The Thermal Imager generates quality images on the darkest nights, even in rain and fog.

Although the primary goal of the grant was to prepare our Sheriff’s Office in the event of a terrorist related activity, the grant allows our Sheriff’s Office to use the Thermal Imager during daily operations. Our Sheriff's Office will utilize the Thermal Imager during daily operations to locate missing citizens and wanted people.

Much of Lincoln County is very wooded and brushy and is foggy and rainy at times. There have been circumstances where suspects have ran from deputies and hid in a wooded or brushy area. It is very hazardous and difficult to send deputies in to search for these suspects for fear of ambush. The Thermal Imager will serve as a valuable tool to find suspects without creating a hazard to deputies, their fellow officers, and other citizens.

The Thermal Imager will assist in search and rescue operations, crash investigations, surveillance, environmental law enforcement, vehicle inspections, and detection of false compartments and disturbed surfaces, enabling our Sheriff's Office to make the most of this tool. Because thermal imagers enable deputies to monitor conditions from a distance, they are less likely to be in danger in these situations.

The primary goal of the grant was to better prepare our Sheriff’s Office in the event of a terrorist related event. Our Sheriff's Office will utilize the Thermal Imager for terrorism-related critical incident management. The Thermal Imager can be used in every phase of an incident starting with detection. Terrorist activity is often concealed, difficult to detect, and occurs during darkness. Using the Thermal Imager will allow our deputies to detect possible terrorist activity during darkness while keeping our deputies safe.

The Thermal Imager can also be used as a detection of terrorist related biological events to expose hazardous chemicals. The Thermal Imager will allow deputies to search for dangerous fumes from a distance without exposing themselves to further danger.

The Thermal Imager will also assist and strengthen response for rescue operations during a terrorist event. After a terrorist event, our Sheriff's Deputies may be tasked with search and rescue efforts to locate victims. Victims may be trapped, isolated, or severely injured. The Thermal Imager will allow Deputies to more effectively search areas of destruction for possible victims and save lives.

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