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According to the Portland publication The Statesman Journal, Oregon police are woefully behind on the latest technology. Of the entire Oregon state police force, currently only one third of them are firmly in the twenty-first century. This, say some analysts, is a problem — and GPS fleet technology could be a huge part of the solution.

Oregon State Police are currently lobbying lawmakers in order to get access to several billion dollars, which would go towards modernizing the Oregon fleet with GPS tracking technology. They would do so by switching the police force’s source of funding to the state highway funding. The bill would then, as per Oregon law, go to Oregon voters.

“It would make things easier for us,” said outgoing Oregon State Police Officers’ Association President Jeff Leighty told The Statesman. “When you’re arguing against kids, it’s a tougher sell,” he continued, referencing the fact that the police would be competing with the state’s department of education for the finding.

State Senator Sal Esquivel, R-Medford said, “They’ve been underfunded for so long. They need to have GPS, they need to have the ability within their cruisers to have a computer station.”

Depending on how the vote goes in the legislature, and then how the vote goes in the general election throughout the state, the police force will still take years to modernize. What do you think? Are there other ways of modernizing the security in the state in case the funding does not pass legislation? Post your ideas in the comments!

Article Written by Greg Minton