INDEPENDENCE — Kenton County police and emergency services workers will have mobile data terminals soon, thanks to a government grant.

        The county has been awarded a $1 million federal grant to install the terminals in all of its emergency vehicles.

        “It is a giant leap forward for law enforcement and emergency service providers in Kenton County,” said county police Chief Bill Dorsey. “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. This is about what we can do for the citizens of Kenton County.”

        Mobile data terminals allow officers to quickly access data, such as identification (including a photograph), warrants, restraining orders and criminal records.

        The money will go toward equipment for all police, fire and ambulance agencies in the county except Erlanger and Covington. Those two cities were not included in the grant because they have their own dispatch centers, and do not use the county's consolidated dispatch center.

        Covington police are testing different types of terminals in anticipation of outfitting their cruisers with the computers. Last year, Erlanger and Elsmere police received grants to buy technology for their cruisers.

        The Boone County Sheriff's Department has terminals in many of its cruisers, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has had terminals in its police cruisers for some time.

        The grant comes from the Department of Justice's COPS program, which helps local law enforcement agencies around the county.

        U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, D-Ky., lobbied the Justice Department on the county's request.

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