08/21/2026
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office Update
Chief Larson and I have been working hard talking with vendors and finding ways to modernize the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
Our goal when we started was pretty simple: get us into the 20th Century. I’m happy to report that on a few things, we’re knocking on the door of the 21st Century.
We’re getting there. One Atari at a time.
MARK43 – CAD, Records & Jail Management
Right now, our Computer-Aided Dispatch, Records Management, and Jail Management systems operate through CrimeStar. After a lot of research, demonstrations, questions, and discussions, we have decided to move forward with MARK43.
For those who aren't computer experts, I'll explain it this way:
CrimeStar = Atari.
MARK43 = PlayStation 5.
No disrespect to Atari. It had a good run.
MARK43 will give our dispatchers, deputies, detectives, detention staff, and administration a much more modern system for handling calls, reports, records, jail operations, and information. It should also eliminate a lot of the unnecessary duplication and outdated processes our people deal with every day.
New Drone Program, Our new drone is here:
BNSF Railway provided us with a $5,000 grant to help with the purchase, and we greatly appreciate their investment in public safety here in Pulaski County.
Our old drone was limited primarily to daylight operations. If we needed thermal or night capabilities, we had to call another agency for assistance. Not anymore.
Our new drone has thermal/night capabilities, along with attachments for a spotlight and loudspeaker. We currently have two deputies working toward their FAA certification, and we already have one FAA-certified pilot who has taken it up for a test flight.
Again:
Old drone = Atari.
New drone = PlayStation 5.
This isn't a toy. It gives us another tool during critical incidents, searching for missing people, river and wooded-area searches, SRT operations, disasters, and other situations where getting eyes in the sky quickly can save valuable time. It also gives us another capability we can provide to our neighboring agencies when they need help.
Registered S*x Offender Information:
We are also working to add OffenderWatch directly to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office App and website.
Once it is up and running, you won't have to navigate around looking for Pulaski County registered s*x offender information. You'll be able to click the tab and see registered offenders in Pulaski County directly from our App or website. Simple. Easy. Useful.
Virtual Reality Training:
We are currently looking at a Peerless Virtual Reality Simulator to significantly expand training opportunities for our deputies, detectives, and detention officers.
And this isn't just the old shoot/don't-shoot simulator. The system can provide training involving de-escalation, traffic stops, use-of-force decision-making, SRT operations, courtroom testimony, crime scenes, jail incidents, tactical situations, and numerous other law enforcement scenarios. It can also incorporate handgun, rifle, and TASER training.
The biggest advantage is that it isn't limited to one section of the Sheriff's Office. Deputies, detectives, supervisors, SRT members, and detention officers can all benefit from it.
If CrimeStar was Atari and MARK43 is PlayStation 5...
This thing is PlayStation 10.
Changing How We Train With Fi****ms:
We're also revamping our pistol and rifle qualifications.
We've spent the last year practicing and evaluating this concept. Now we're going to implement it.
The days of simply standing still and punching holes in a paper target are over. Our new qualifications will incorporate time, movement, communication, magazine changes, different shooting positions, decision-making, and stress.
Shoot. Move. Communicate.
We're going to raise the heart rate, introduce physical movement, force deputies to manipulate their equipment under pressure, and make qualification more closely resemble the environment they could actually encounter on the road.
A paper target doesn't move. It doesn't yell. It doesn't create confusion. It doesn't make your heart rate hit 150 beats per minute.
We need to train for reality, not just train to pass a qualification.
New Dispatch Center: Our new dispatch center is also getting very close to completion.
The antennas are up. Wires are run. We've already talked to the International Space Station. They're doing fine.
For years, our dispatchers have essentially been working with equipment that included using what amounts to a car radio inside a building. That is changing.
Our new antenna and communications system will dramatically improve our ability to communicate throughout Pulaski County, and our goal is to make the radio dead zones we've fought for years a thing of the past, or at least something we spend a lot less time fighting.
Our new dispatch center will give our personnel capabilities much closer to what you would expect from a modern 911 communications center. None of these upgrades are about buying shiny new toys.
They're about giving our people better tools, better training, better communications, and better information so they can do their jobs more safely and effectively.
Chief Larson and I aren't interested in doing something a certain way simply because That's how we've always done it.
If there's a better way to serve Pulaski County, we're going to look at it. If it makes sense, if we can afford it, and if it makes our deputies, detention officers, dispatchers, and citizens safer, we'll keep moving forward.
We're not trying to build the biggest Sheriff's Office. We're trying to build a better one. And little by little, we're getting there.
Now, if somebody can just find the doggone cord to this Atari, we'll be in business.
Sheriff Stacy L. Ball
Pulaski County Sheriff
