Laconia police purchase mobile command center with grant funding

LACONIA — The Laconia Police Department now has its first-ever mobile command center thanks to a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

“It's going to be used for three different things,” Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield explained. “Mobile command for any type of ongoing incident, but also it's going to be used for the accident reconstruction team. All the equipment for accident reconstruction will be stored in here, and also for crime scene processing.”

Canfield gestured to the brand-new, still-empty shelves of the vehicle's interior, stating that crime-processing equipment will also be stored inside.

The vehicle consists of a Ford F550 chassis with a 20-foot-long box mounted on the body. Inside are cabinets for storing various types of equipment, two computer consoles and a plethora of radios and other communications systems.

In the rear of the unit is a command center and meeting room, where officials can view data on a large monitor, access more radios and even seal themselves off from the rest of the vehicle in order to facilitate less chaotic communication.

The Laconia Police Department is the only agency in the Lakes Region with such a vehicle, which could prove instrumental in a high-profile, high-risk situation like an active shooter.

In addition to simply being a rally and communication hub, the truck is bristling with other cutting-edge, if not controversial, video technology.

“We're moving toward a software that we can pull video into regardless of the video. If you want to give us access to your Ring doorbell camera, we can access it,” Canfield said, gesturing to a pair of work station monitors. “We're not just gonna look at it whenever. If there was an incident we'd send you a text and ask if we can access it.”

Canfield explained this same technology could allow the department to access school or other security cameras with permission should the situation arise.

“My long-term goal is to basically have memorandums of understanding with  [schools], like, 'Hey, if something happened can we have access to your cams?'” Canfield said. “I don't want to monitor school cameras, but in the event of an active shooter, we could access them and stream it live into our dispatch center, and stream it live into these screens.”

Such software would give law enforcement a massive edge in an active shooter situation, allowing dispatchers and commanders to pinpoint the exact location of a shooter, then relay it to officers on the ground in real time.

The software will also be able to tap into the feeds from drones piloted by the department's licensed operators, or even a helicopter should the need arise.

Speaking of cameras, the truck is bristling with them. Cameras placed around the vehicle give occupants a complete view of their surroundings. The most impressive of these is a large, pole-mounted model that can extend up to 30 feet above ground level.

A robust cable provides a live, high-definition picture to the monitors inside.

Canfield demonstrated the camera's zoom capabilities by focusing in on the fire watch tower in the Belknap Mountain State Forest from the vehicle's parking spot behind the police department. As the lens closed in on the tower, it was possible to make out the individual rungs of its structure.

“That's the hospital right there,” said Canfield, panning to Concord Hospital — Laconia's roof. “Say you had a sniper on the rooftop there, we're quite a ways away but you could see him from here.”

The need for such a vehicle arose after the department conducted an active shooter exercise at Laconia Middle School a few years ago to assess their operational abilities. The Department of Homeland Security conducted an after-action report regarding Laconia Police Department's performance, spurring the department's search for a mobile command post.

“One of the deficiencies noted in that training that was a takeaway was the ability to have effective communications and command and control the incident and the lack of a command post vehicle to make that happen,” Canfield recalled. “So that's what started it. We got looking for grants, and got this one [from] a federal grant.”

With the federal grant, the $275,000 purchase was completely covered, so no additional money needed to be allocated.

“Zero cost to the taxpayers of Laconia,” Canfield said, “But certainly a great asset to our agency, and we'll make it available on a county-wide [level], as well.”