MUSCATINE — If the Muscatine City Council approves a request from the Muscatine Special Operations Response Team Thursday, the newest guy on the team may be made of metal.
MSORT is asking the Council to approve the $47,975.00 purchase of an ICOR Technology Mini-Caliber Robot.
“When we started this team several years ago, and now coming into going on two years with the team being a multi-jurisdiction team, one of the ways that we can ensure the safety of our people and serve a best-case scenario when we respond to these calls to have the tools in our tool box to use,” said Lieutenant Anthony Kies.
Kies said it would be helpful for the Special Operations Response team to utilize the robot alongside their new armored vehicle.
“We had one incident in particular where we had to wait two-and-a-half hours for Bettendorf to respond with their robot, and so this has been something that has been in the makings for quite some time,” Kies said.
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The ICOR Technology Mini-Caliber Robots are mobile robots designed for tactical missions. They can search rooms, hallways and confined spaces and are simple to operate. They can also climb stairs and open doors, and hold or take packages.
“We ran some tests on another robot… but it is a night and day difference between the other robot and the ICOR robot that we tested, so this is the best one that we can buy.” Kies added that if the basic robot is approved by the Council, they would be able to add more features to it in the future.
MSORT has already secured outside funding sources for this purchase. Kent Corporation, Howe Foundation, HNI Corporation and the Muscatine County Sherriff’s office all helped provide $48,000 for this purchase.
“I was approached first on what my next wishlist item was, and when I had the first $20,000 offered to me, I then approached HNI and asked them for assistance with it, and HNI voted on the approval as well,” Kies said, “Believe it or not, I actually didn’t have to ask for any money first, they actually offered. That’s what makes the support really something that I think this community should be proud of — that people want to step forward and help.”
Currently, Kies doesn’t have a back-up plan of what to do if the Council doesn’t approve the purchase Thursday night. However, he’s going into the meeting with as positive of an outlook as possible, and if the council doesn’t approve the robot, Kies says he’ll deal with it as the time comes and adds, “We couldn’t do this without the people in the community and we appreciate everyone’s support.”