Who ever said that crime doesn’t pay.
The Winnebago Police Department is reaping the benefits from the actions of some wrongdoers.
Police Chief Eric Olson told City Council members at their last meeting he wants to buy three new computers for the department’s squad cars.
And, he plans to use money collected from court fines totaling nearly $20,000.
“We can’t write paper tickets anymore, the courts won’t take them,” says Olson. “Since my dad retired in ’99, in the policing world we have come to totally relying on computers.”
Besides purchasing needed equipment, Olson says, monies from fines may be used for officer training.
He says that 20 percent of the fines collected are put into the department’s K9 fund to cover expenses for Jack.
“I used court fines money in 2015 to purchase our K9 and all of the training came out of that,” he adds.
After acquiring the three computers, says Olson, the fund for fines will have a balance of around $14,000.