The Joliet City Council is considering giving its police department new technology that supporters say would make investigations faster.
Deputy Chief for Information Systems Chris Botzum told council members at a Monday night workshop the contract with Peregrine Technologies would allow officers to search multiple systems that are currently separate.
He said the data integration system would perform searches in seconds that used to take hours or days and help the department spot potential burnout among officers.
The $200,000 cost for the first year is already allocated in the department’s budget, Botzum said.
Council members pushed back a vote on the five-year contract, citing a desire to see more details.
Botzum says he hasn’t heard anything bad about the system from more than 300 police agencies across the country currently using it.
However, also on Monday night the City Council in Durham, North Carolina pulled a Peregrine contract proposal after people raised concerns about mass surveillance and racial profiling.
The issue is expected to come up for a vote at the next Joliet City Council meeting on February 17th.