Â
Bodyworn cams now countywide
If you get in trouble with the law, make sure you smile. Youâll be on camera.
All members of the Andalusia and Opp police departments completed training in the use body worn cameras this week, and as of today, will have them completely deployed in the field.
Members of the two departments join the Covington County Sheriffâs Department and the Florala Police Department in the use of the cameras.
âThe response has been good,â Hudson said. âEverybody understands the cameras are a safeguard for them as far as false allegations go.â
Police and animal control officers spent the first part of the training learning about the use of the cameras, which are on and in standby mode when an officer is on duty. If he or she gets out of their patrol car at a scene, they press the record button to capture everything that happens, the chief explained.
Even if nothing goes wrong, Hudson said, the video evidence can help establish for trial what an officer saw upon arriving at a scene.
The second portion of the training involved policies and procedures for the use. The digital recordings must be uploaded by the end of every shift, Hudson said.
Officers cannot edit the videos, he said, but they can tag certain scenes, or add case numbers as they complete reports.
The digital media evidence false into the same rules for evidence, as far as chain of custody goes, he said.
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded Andalusia an $87,224 grant for the Covington County Law Enforcement Agencies Collaborative, which included APD, the Opp Police Department, and the Covington County Sheriffâs Department. The award initially covered the purchase of 81 body worn cameras for all area law enforcement personnel. In June 2016, Sheriff Dennis Meeks chose to remove his department from the grant and purchase cameras for their department. Andalusia and Opp Police Departments were able to secure additional equipment with the monies that remained.
All uniformed personnel from the Andalusia and Opp departments are outfitted with a Coban Echo. These cameras have 115-degree field of view, low light video capability, are water resistant and are made to military specifications for durability. In addition to the purchase of the camera systems, the departments were outfitted with two servers (one per department, with 32 terabytes of storage), docking stations for uploading video evidence and additional cameras for each department so that no officer goes without his or camera.
Hudson said that since October 2015, the Covington County LEA Advisory Council, comprised of area law enforcement representatives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and community leaders, have worked to develop policies for the use of the cameras. A Justice Department technical assistance team approved that policy in June.
Hudson said the council developed policies to improve transparency between officers and the public; established privacy policies; and implement the use of the cameras.
Â
A $1 million project underway on the north side of Andalusia is designed to extend the life of the city’s sewerage treatment plant.
Mayor Earl Johnson described the project as “huge.”
“We are relining all of the north side basin, which is basically the north side of town,” Johnson said.
The project began because of the extreme amount of rainwater that was entering the system.
“On average, our sewerage treatment plant processes two million gallons a day,” Johnson said.
On a really rainy day, he said, that number doubled.
“Basically, we were treating rainwater,” he said. “But we have to treat it because it goes back into the river.”
The project involves lining the existing sewerage lines with a material to prevent leaks. But in places where the lines have collapsed, the lines are being dug up and replaced.
“When all of the repair work is completed, we can come back in and repair the streets,” Johnson said. “It would be cost prohibitive to have a contractor do the street work in small pieces.”
This is the first time in the system’s history the lines have been repaired to this extent, he said, adding that when this project is completed, the Utilities Board will begin looking at a similar project in the south basin.
“At the end of the day, this is a project that should have been done in smaller pieces, years ago” Johnson said. “But as with many unpleasant things, it’s been kicked down the road.”
It is estimated a new sewerage treatment plant would cost $40 million.
“This is a huge job, and we know it’s an aggravation to the public,” Johnson said. “We believe it will pay off for the city in the long run, in extending the life of our treatment plant.”
Read more >
Andalusia Star News
By: Michele Gerlach
Click the 
at the top of the map to view street names.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 is the projected start date for the Street Resurfacing Project. The red markings on the map above indicate the streets that are anticipated to be under construction. The budget will determine the final project, but the Public Works Director has prioritized the list for construction as follows:
- South Cotton Street
- Feagin Avenue to Whatley Street
- South Cotton Street
- Railroad tracks to East Watson Street
- Old Antioch Road
- MLK Jr. Expy to the intersection of Antioch Road and Sutton Road
- Elm Street | Grider Street
- MLK Jr. Expy to Sanford Road
- Packer Avenue
- Cawthan Street to Thweat Street
- Albritton Road
- Stanley Avenue to Adams Avenue
- Through Street
- 300 ft section in front of Cold Storage Plant
- Cadiz Street
- 600 ft dirt section
- East Pass Road
- Dirt section
- Hillcrest Drive
- Snowden Drive to Covington County Commission and Sheriff's Office
- Midway Drive
- Academy Drive to City Limits - and 300 ft portion of Ben Valen Road
- Coffee Street
- Court Square to Historic Central Street
- Second Avenue
- East Three Notch Street to College Street
Good news, genealogy fans and car fanatics, the Andalusia Public Library will soon add two new databases to help further your hobbies.
APL Director Karin Taylor said Friday the library will soon add ancestry.com for free for patrons and the app for patrons to have a free download of the Chilton manuals for their smartphone or tablet.
Taylor said the service is available through the Alabama Public Library Service.
“Ancestry.com is very expensive,” she said. “But we don’t have to pay for it, thanks to the Alabama Public Library Service. We are excited to offer this to our patrons.”
She expects to have those free services in place in September.
Taylor said they have also recently started offering rednovels.net through the APL website, which offers a wide variety of books for free to read.
She also lauded apps such as Homework Help and tutor.com.
“Tutor.com offers a chance for people to get a tutor from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday,” she said.
Taylor said the website is available for kindergarten through college and even adult education and job assistance.
For more information, contact the APL at 222-6612.
Read More>
Andalusia Star News
By: Kendra Majors
Andalusia Star News
There’s a whole lotta sidewalk work under way in Andalusia.
In the downtown area, ramps at street crossings are being brought into federal compliance.
Andalusia Director of Public Works Glynn Ralls said that a project from Stanley Avenue to Winn-Dixie is being completed by a state contractor.
“They have 14 sites life to fix,” he said late Tuesday. Federal highway funding is contingent upon sidewalks on state right-of-ways being handicap-accessible.
Meanwhile, on the west side of town, construction continues on an Alabama Department of Transportation grant-funded project to build a new sidewalk from Dunson Street down Prestwood Bridge Road to Cedar Road.
Already, sidewalks have been extended on Church Street and Snowden Drive.
The project was bid at $398,960. The ALDOT grant requires the city to pay 20 percent of the project.
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News