By: Nyah Jackson
On Monday, Oct. 20, the City of Collegedale’s IT Director, Thomas Cook, proposed new Toughbook laptops for the city’s police department to the Collegedale Board of Commissioners. It was brought to the board’s attention that the current computers are four years old, making them outdated. As the new IT expert for the city, Cook has been working on updating equipment that has not been replaced in the last five years.
In an email to the Accent, Assistant Chief of Police Jamie Heath emphasized the importance of updating equipment.
“These [laptops] are replacements for our current units, which have become outdated due to advances in technology,” he stated. “It’s part of our regular practice to replace aging or obsolete equipment to ensure reliability and efficiency in our operations.”
In the Commission meeting, Cook suggested that the laptops be leased, like they were the last time laptops were purchased for the police department. Cook got a quote from CDW Corporation to lease the same number of laptops for $121,524.
At the meeting, Mayor Morty Lloyd asked, “Do we get any trade-in for the old [laptops]? Is there a market to sell them?” Both questions were answered with a “no.”
“There’s no money that I’m aware of that we can get, but I can certainly try to find some,” Lloyd said.
According to Cook, the hard drives in the current police department laptops are required to be destroyed.
During the meeting, Commissioner Laura Howse said that she had been looking to see if there was any grant money that the city could use to purchase the laptops.
“Apparently, if you live in a really dangerous zip code, you can get some [funding] from the State of Tennessee,” she said. “But we’re very fortunate here. We live in very nice zip codes, so there’s no need for federal or state funding for this.” After the discussion, there was a vote that resulted in a unanimous “yes” to lease laptops from the CDW Corporation for $121,524.16.
In an email, Heath explained how these laptops will benefit the police department.
“This purchase will allow the department to maintain reliable, up-to-date technology that supports daily operations, records management and field reporting,” Heath stated. “Replacing aging laptops ensures that officers and staff can access critical systems quickly and securely in the field. This equipment improves officer efficiency and enhances our ability to serve the community effectively.”
