ITT donates 20 night-vision goggles to FWPD, sheriff’s department
By Nate Hodges, Aaron Organ
News-Sentinel
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Criminals hiding in the dark, beware -- police can see you.
ITT Corp. donated 20 night-vision goggles to the Fort Wayne Police Department and the Allen County Sheriff’s Department on Monday. The departments will split the donation, with each receiving 10 units for training and nighttime operations.
“In such tough economic times, ITT is being very generous in providing us with expensive, cutting-edge technology that the Fort Wayne Police Department just couldn’t afford to buy,” said Police Chief Rusty York. Each unit is valued at $5,000-$7,000. “Without the funds in our budget for the goggles, I voiced a need, and ITT really stepped up to the plate. ITT is getting nothing out of this except helping the community.”
The goggles are made by ITT Night Vision in Roanoke, Va., with its primary customer being the U.S. military and allies, although it also sells to law enforcement agencies. ITT’s Defense Electronics & Services segment includes the Fort Wayne-based Aerospace Communications Division at 1919 W. Cook Road, which makes tactical radios for the military.
The goggles are simple to use, with just a basic on-off switch and manual focus, but are highly effective.
The goggles allow a viewer to see a green tint in pitch-black darkness that illuminates everything within the view finder, but gives off no light, making the user nearly undetectable. They can be mounted on firearms or helmets, or simply used by hand.
This donation isn’t the first of its kind.
In 2007, the police department and sheriff’s department received 30 goggles from ITT. Monday’s donation helps put more goggles on the streets.
Now, 29 police officers have night-vision goggles. A total for the sheriff’s department was not available.
“We just recognized there was still a need to fully equip the law enforcement teams with the night vision equipment,” said Tim White of ITT Communications. “It gives our law enforcement officers here in Allen County an overwhelming advantage in nighttime operations. We felt that it was important that our officers be equipped with the very best.”
The police department has put the gifts to good use. “We use the goggles all the time,” said York.
The goggles are used for training purposes and are used often by the emergency services team (SWAT) and neighborhood response team that deal with street crime and long-term investigations. The goggles are used so the teams can be more covert and see suspects at night during surveillance missions.
“It’s quite possible that these goggles could save an officer’s life because they’re able to see at night what they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise,” said White.
Copyright 2009 News-Sentinel
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