County Emergency Management to buy mobile fingerprint ID devices

HARTINGTON – Cedar County Emergency Management is using federal grants to purchase equipment to help out northeast Nebraska law enforcement officers, who are in constant need to quickly and accurately checking a person's identity.

The county board of commissioners approved April 23 a grant purchase request from Kevin Garvin, the county's emergency manager and 911 communications coordinator, for equipment for Nebraska's Northeast Planning, Exercise and Training Homeland Security Region, of which the county is a member.

“He's using (federal) Homeland Security money,” County Clerk Jessica Schmit said, noting Garvin was unable to attend the meeting. “We don't have an official procurement policy for how to purchase anything using these funds.”

Board Chairman Dave McGregor recalled the commissioners in the past have given Garvin permission to go ahead and purchase items using these federal grant funds.

“He can purchase anything up to $2,000 without coming to the board,” McGregor said. “After $2,000, he has to come to the board.”

The funding for this purchase is a 2022-23 fiscal- year grant from U.S. Homeland Security, with the total awarded equaling $19,082.70.

The grant purchase will include seven IDEMIA IDent 2.0 mobile handheld devices – an automated fingerprint identification system – at a cost of $2,500 per unit for a price of $17,500, as well as six software subscriptions at a cost of $250 per unit for a price of $1,500.

All together, the total price is $19,000.

Nebraska’s Northeast PET Homeland Security Region is made up of Antelope, Burt, Cedar, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Stanton, Thurston and Wayne counties.

“It is one of eight such regions across Nebraska formed to comply with federal guidance issued around 2007 to help strengthen homeland security across the United States and make better use of federal grant funds,” Garvin said in a follow-up interview.

Cedar County also serves as the fiscal agent for this Homeland Security Region, as approved by the commissioners in 2008.

Cedar, Cuming, Dixon, Madison, Stanton, Thurston and Wayne counties will receive equipment from the IDEMIA Group, Reston, Va., thanks to the grant purchase.

“Stanton County has agreed to purchase their own one-year software subscription, as there are insufficient funds in the grant to fund all seven subscriptions,” Garvin said.