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Article from New Britain HeraldThanks to a donation from the DATTCO Bus Company, the police department now has a new addition to their crisis negotiation team: their very own shuttle bus. After the team realized that cramming everything they needed into an SUV wasn't efficient enough for their operations, they called on local bus companies for help. DATTCO jumped at the chance to help out. Once the department received the shuttle bus in May 2006, the team immediately went to work refurbishing it to suit its needs. They rearranged the seats, painted the exterior in the department's standard American flag pattern, added red and blue lights, blocked out the windows for privacy and added cabinetry, tables and a large dry erase board to the interior. "I'm really impressed," said New Britain Police Capt. Dennis Beatty. "Those guys really worked hard." Had the department been forced to purchase the bus itself, the entire project would have cost around $60,000. But thanks to the donation, the renovation of the bus cost approximately $20,000. "DATTCO was very generous," Beatty said. The bus also has a pop-up tent, a generator to power the interior, and outlets for officers to hook up their laptops, printers, surveillance equipment or cell phones to. Everything was built to be space-efficient to allow for maximum mobility on the bus. A table is attached to the ceiling when not in use, |
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