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Westmoreland County Partners with City of Greensburg to Provide
Internet and On-line Criminal Justice System Connection: Agreement Enhances Service,
Saves Taxpayers Dollars
Posted 08-09-2002
Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Balya today announced a partnership with the City
of Greensburg to provide a high-speed wireless connection to the Internet and the
Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET) that will enhance service and save taxpayer money.
"This is a great example of how county
and local governments can work together to the benefit of taxpayers," Balya said.
"The Internet connection will provide the City of Greensburg with the new high-speed
Internet access its needs -- at a lower cost than the city was previously paying. And
since the city is sharing the cost of the Internet service, the county saves money too.
It's the perfect marriage."
"We are thankful that the county is
providing us with these enhanced capabilities, which is a vast improvement over our
previous Internet system, and also gives us access to JNET to advance our criminal justice
system," said Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman. "That both the city and county are
at the same time saving money makes this partnership even better. This agreement is a
positive for the city, the county and the taxpayers."
Through the partnership, the county
provides Greensburg with access through a "line of sight" wireless connection
from antennas located on the Westmoreland County Courthouse and Greensburg City Hall. The
city is responsible for maintenance of the antennas, while the county maintains
responsibility for the connection. The city will pay the county $200 per month for the
service, which will help offset a portion of the county's approximately $1,200 monthly
Internet provider bill.
JNET is an integrated information
technology system for collecting and sharing criminal justice information. It was
created to enhance public safety by providing a common on-line environment for
authorized state, county, and local officials to access offender criminal records and
other criminal justice information from participating agencies.
The JNET project is currently in Phase II
of a multi-phase development plan that spans several years. Westmoreland County is one of
only eight counties selected for a pilot program for electronic reporting through the JNET
system. Westmoreland County also is one of a select group of counties throughout the state
participating in a notification process through JNET to identify arrests, parole
violations, and warrants. |
