During Tuesday night's Grapevine City Council workshop, Police Chief Eddie Salame discussed future plans to upgrade the department's equipment, modify patrol cars and potentially heighten security downtown.

Salame said the department is looking at possible technology upgrades in replacing the department's radio systems and expanding the mesh network, which provides connectivity to computer systems from cars and laptops. He and his staff are also looking at what, if anything, should be done to further increase safety measures in downtown Grapevine.

"If we have problem areas and we can install cameras, officers can see these areas from the computers in their patrol cars and they can see it from the police station," he said. "It just really helps us not having to be everywhere."

Councilwoman Darlene Freed said it would make sense to consider having security cameras in dark areas of Main Street.

"It might be worthwhile to have cameras, especially during festivals," she said.

Salame discussed the idea of adding the department's compass logo on patrol cars and changing the color scheme of cars from a gradient purple and blue to black and white to help increase visibility. Also on the radar is replacing the department's laptops with tablets for portability and potential cost savings.

"We spend about $6,000 for each laptop in the cars, we spend about $3,000 for each ticket writer," he said. "There is a possibility of eliminating both of those [costs] in using an iPad for both."

Those cost savings in technology may eventually be put toward additional staffing or resources. The department has been aggressive in traffic enforcement of commercial vehicles on the roadways, Salame said. Officers have issued citations and have even put drivers out of service.

"I would expect for us to have some discussion in the near future about maybe providing some kind of resources dedicated to commercial vehicle enforcement," he said.

No action was taken during the council workshop.

Meanwhile, before the council meeting, Salame presented a plaque from the City of Lyford to Mayor William D. Tate as an appreciation for donating some of the city's police department vehicles and equipment to the Lyford Police Department.

"This was a department that was starting out from scratch they really had no equipment," Salame said. "And so they were thrilled to get the equipment that you authorized that we sent down there and they just wanted to express their appreciation for that."