S. Zanesville PD Upgrades Fleet and Equipment

ZANESVILLE, OH – A local Police Department recently got a few upgrades and a new addition.

Last November the Village of South Zanesville’s Police Department had a 2 Mil levy on the ballot that failed to pass. The Police Department planned to use the money for some upgrades to their equipment and to hire more officers.

South Zanesville Chief of Police, Mark Ross, said the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office decided to reach out and help them.

“Ron Welch had told me through one of his employees that they would be willing to help us with any type of equipment,” Chief Ross said. “So we brought that wish list to him and we decided to upgrade the laptops to Tough Books. Ron Welch decided to purchase these Panasonic Tough Books for our cruisers.”

Chief Ross said the money for the new Tough Books came from money that was seized from drug crimes.

There is also a new addition to the Department’s vehicle fleet. Chief Ross talked about how they acquired the new cruiser.

“I found out by the State Highway Patrol that any departments that have a hardship in getting cruisers, they were replacing their cruiser fleet,” Ross said. “[They] were going from a Dodge Charger to a Durango. We approached the State Highway Patrol and [in] their good graces had [given] us a 2019 Dodge Charger.”

Chief Ross said the new cruiser needed to be restriped and the VFW Post 1058 donated the money for that. He also said all the upgrades totaled up to between $30,000 and $40,000.