The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Department was recently awarded a grant from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the amount of $20,392.00

Josh Powell with the Sheriff’s Department, explained that the grant will be used to purchase a four wheel drive ATV and a thermal imaging unit.

Powell stated there are occasions when the sheriff’s department is called to an area where the rugged terrain makes it impossible for a normal vehicle to do the job; he cited the 2011 case in which a hunter went missing on Taylor’s Ridge and the Alzheimer’s patient that was lost in February, 2012 – as just two instances in which the new equipment would have been extremely helpful.

A thermal imaging unit allows law enforcement to search for people at night, allowing them to apprehend criminals and locate car crash victims or lost persons in complete darkness.

The technology displays images by picking up heat signatures by reading infrared radiation

Up until now, the sheriff’s department has had to rely on one of the local fire departments if they needed to use a thermal imaging unit.

Powell further pointed out that the grant from the Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, will pay completely for the cost of both the ATV, and the thermal imaging unit meaning there’ll be no expense to the taxpayers of Chattooga County.

(AM1180 Chattooga County Radio)