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| Gulfport considers jail transport pact |
| By Sheila Mullane Estrada |
| Published: 04/09/2009 |
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GULFPORT — A countywide prisoner transport system, reminiscent of the "paddy wagons" of the early 1900s, may soon be taking people arrested by the Gulfport Police Department to jail. Interim City Manager Jim O'Reilly is recommending that the City Council agree Tuesday to join the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and other cities in a consolidated program funded by an expanded U.S. Department of Justice Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. Pinellas County and all 26 cities in the county recently were awarded a total of $3.129 million in JAG grants through the federal stimulus program and are required to submit a joint application by May 18 for a program that would benefit all recipients. Under the Sheriff's Office's proposed program, Gulfport's $29,874 share of the grant would cover up to 767 prisoner transports in the next 18 months. When people are arrested in Gulfport now, one of the city's four on-duty police officers on a given shift must drive them to the county jail. This takes time, costs money and reduces the city's available police patrols by one-fourth, O'Reilly said Friday. The city averages 510 prisoner transports a year at a cost of about $75 per transport. Each transport takes about two hours, according to interim police Chief Robert Vincent. "This plan would allow us to maintain or increase service levels at no additional cost," Vincent said. Under the proposed joint program, a prisoner transport van operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office would pick up people under arrest either at the crime scene, at the city's Police Department or at other yet-to-be designated locations and take them to the 49th Street County Jail. The Sheriff's Office began a prisoner transport program last year, and has since "realized very significant efficiencies," according to Chief Deputy Bob Gualtieri. Each of the department's eight vans can carry up to 10 prisoners. By using the vans, deputies can remain "on post," he said. In March, the Sheriff's Office and the Clearwater Police Department successfully tested a pilot prisoner transport program in that city. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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