North Iowa Reporter

During its Jan. 3 regular session, Algona City Council discussed a possible application for a Sioux County community foundation grant that would fund the purchase of technology for the police department to be able to dump information from cell phones.

During the session, which was streamed on YouTube, Police Chief Bo Miller told the council about the project that the city would consider applying form including pricey technology used for cell phone dumps when the department is executing a warrant to search a cellular telephone.

“There are little cases where you go like, okay, maybe we have enough evidence on this and you don't need [phone dumps], but, you know, for a county attorney’s office, you want all the evidence you can possibly get when you're going to a case,” Miller said during the session. “So being able to get that, that's very important.”

Miller told the council the department currently has to rely on other departments, with some agencies no longer offering this help, while others are considering a fee for the assistance.

“There have been years there have been 20 phones and there have been years there are only two or three phones,” he said.

The cell phone technology comes with a $12,000 price tag, with a $4,600 subscription fee, to be split between the city and the county sheriff’s department., it was noted during the session.

Miller noted during the session that the technology could be the only way officers can get information from a cell phone, which could prove to be key to investigations, providing evidence that could bolster a case.