Peoria Mayor and City Council voted 7-0 Aug. 5 to approve a budget amendment to buy 75 mobile data computers for Peoria police personnel. The amendment, presented during agenda item 21R, funds the department’s plan to move from vehicle-based devices to personnel-assigned laptops.

City Manager Henry Darwin introduced the item and Police Chief Thomas Intriere and Deputy Chief Douglas Steele made the presentation. Chief Thomas Intriere said the department’s existing vehicle-assigned devices have slowed as multiple user profiles accumulated and that officers sometimes “have to search from vehicle to vehicle to find an MDC just so they can go on duty.” Intriere added the change would increase “accountability” and reduce repair cycles and downtime.

Deputy Chief Douglas Steele said the department is adding more data-intensive systems — including a real-time crime center, upgrades to computer-aided dispatch and a drone first-responder program — and that delays on shared devices can reduce the timeliness of data reaching officers in the field. Steele told the council those systems “can actually push live video feeds” and that data delays would harm the effectiveness of the new tools.

The department requested funding to purchase 75 devices to assign to patrol officers, police service officers and animal control officers. Intriere said officer feedback and an employee engagement survey identified equipment as one of the top three workforce concerns; council members noted that assigning devices to individuals often improves care and lengthens equipment life. Council member Bullock asked why the purchase was not included in the budget adopted last month; staff said the need became clearer as deployment plans and system upgrades progressed and the executive team chose to request an amendment rather than reopen the budget process.

Council moved to approve agenda item 21R; Council member Bullock made the motion, it was seconded, and the vote passed 7-0.

The amendment authorizes the city to purchase the devices; the department said implementing the personnel-assigned model should reduce login time (which staff estimated could be up to 30 minutes per shift on shared machines) and repair burdens on IT. Staff said the request is limited to equipment and did not propose accompanying changes in staffing or other operational policy.

The council did not set a specific deployment schedule in the public presentation beyond assigning the devices to the identified user groups and noted the purchase would be paid from available budget authority via an amendment.