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JULY 1, 2016 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
School board saves thousands on copier service
FARMERS’ MARKET
TRACY BELL
T
tbell@insidenova.com
he Stafford County School Board agreed Tuesday to a $588,000 fouryear contract with Ricoh USA of Chicago for copier services beginning in fiscal 2017. The initial proposed contract was for $650,000. A competing Xerox representative attended four school board meetings this spring urging the board to consider using Xerox, which produced the lowest bid. Stafford County Public Schools used Ricoh for the past 10 years and has used Xerox in the past. School board members did not choose Xerox, but thanked its representative for saving the schools $250,000 over four years based on its lower bid and for providing information that helped the board save money. S cho ol b o ard memb ers and Superintendent Bruce Benson expressed disappointment in the way the school system handled the matter, but said it would cause them to look more closely at future business dealings. “I think we could’ve been clearer in our communication with our vendors,” said Benson. In April, the board deferred a decision on which copier company to use and decided to further review its options. There were five bidding companies involved. There, school board member Patricia Healy, SCHOOL PAGE 13 R-Rock Hill, challenged
Locally harvested produce gets prime display as crowds browse and shop the stand operated by C&T Produce at the North Stafford Farmers’ Market. This year the total number of vendors has increased to around 30 at the same location, the parking lot of the Stafford Medical Pavilion on the Stafford Hospital campus. The market is open Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. until November. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA
Stafford seeks funding for 100 body cameras TRACY BELL
tbell@insidenova.com
he Stafford County Sheriff ’s Office has applied for a U.S. Department of Justice grant that could fund 100 of its deputies with a body camera. If received, full funding of the grant would allow deputies in the office’s field operations division to carry the cameras. The sheriff ’s office applied for the grant after the Stafford County Board of Supervisors gave its stamp
of approval. The grant works as a 50 percent match with local funding from the county. The cost to Stafford is $400,000 a year for five years. Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur told InsideNoVa that implementing a body-camera program is a vast undertaking. The goal of the program is to achieve a high level of transparency with the community while protecting the rights of citizens and deputies alike, he said. “…The benefit of having video footage for prosecution, training,
internal investigations and complaints is significant,” Decatur said. “Body-worn cameras are a psychological deterrent to misbehavior on both sides of the lens. The benefits exceed the drawbacks associated with the cost and time to manage the program.” Using the technology in the department’s field operations division would allow for the most immediate and expansive contact with the community served, Decatur said. CAMERA PAGE 13 St af ford C ounty
STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
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