Police Chief Scott Whitaker talks about a phone proposal Tuesday night with Warsaw City Council.

WARSAW — Despite preliminary approval two weeks ago, city council balked Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the idea of providing Warsaw police officers with a dedicated cell phone for work.

Officers currently have their own cell phones for personal needs while at work and depend on either tablets or laptops in their patrol cars to conduct work-related business. However, they have opted out of a city agreement in which the city provides a stipend in exchange for rights to access the phones if needed.

Police Chief Scott Whitaker recapped the plan at city council’s meeting Tuesday. But, when it came time for a vote, none of the five available council members chose to second a motion by Council President Diane Quance to approve it.

Two weeks ago, a preliminary vote was approved unanimously. The reason for a  change in outlook was not clear and the proposal is now in limbo.

The request was to transfer $17,700 that had already been budgeted.

Watching the motion “die for a second” appeared to catch Mayor Joe Thallemer off guard. After the meeting, he said he was unsure why the council declined to even vote on the measure and how soon it might be resurrected for reconsideration.

Thallemer said he was a little surprised by the inaction.

“It’s a difficult issue because some departments have two. They want a separate phone. They don’t want personal information mixed with police business,” Thallemer said. “If they want to study it a little more, I don’t know if there is a time sensitivity to it other than police are not operating with city-issued phones,” he said.

Police Chief Whitaker sought to provide the dedicated phones for at least two reasons. First, officers quit participating in the city stipend program for their personal cell phones because of concerns over personal privacy. On top of that, the city wants officers to use a specialized app, which cannot be placed on personal phones.

The traditional plan that included a stipend required a commitment from the officer to let the city access their phone if needed. That was something they were not willing to give, Whitaker said.

The stipend agreement allowed the city access phones in case of a freedom of information act situation or other reasons the city would need to review content on the phone.

Whitaker said officers quit taking the stipend about six months ago “because they don’t want to use that phone for work purposes. Because of that, we really don’t have any other options. Obviously, the officer doesn’t want to compromise his personal phone or be subject to that.” 

Every officer he’s talked to wants to use the city-issued phone, Whitaker said.

More specifically, the police department wants officers to begin using a specialized app for work that gives them access to state software for police research, according to Angie Howard, the police department’s systems administrator.

With the app, they can conduct background checks on suspects or motorists to determine if they have a warrant and other pertinent information — a task traditionally run by dispatchers.

“It allows the officer to have a hand-held device at all times to be able to conduct business,” Howard said.

It can also be used to take work-related photos and statements with the devices, she said.