Alachua police get new software, thanks to $100,000 donation by millionaire

suchandra · May 11, 2007

Hopefully Mr. Mickey Singer who founded the Alachua Hare Krishna Temple of the Universe still sticks to his decision of having donated the ISKCON Alachua Temple.

http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2007/05/10/news/news09.txt

By Drew Harwell

For The Herald

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ALACHUA -- The Alachua Police Department will be receiving a much-needed hardware and software upgrade, thanks to a $100,000 donation from a local philanthropist, the same man who started the Hare Krishna Temple of the Universe in Alachua.

Police Chief Robert Jernigan told the Alachua City Commission Monday night that the new law enforcement computer system, produced by USA Software, will help police better report information, track crimes and network with other agencies.

The upgrade will be solely funded by a gift to the city from millionaire software developer Mickey Singer, a man who made his millions after starting an Alachua-based medical software company called Medical Manager.

Jernigan said the police department’s current law enforcement system, bought in 1998, is outdated and can only use text. Reports generated by the software are hard to understand and incompatible with other local departments.

The new system is expected to fix these flaws while also speeding up mapping and police requests. Jernigan said a typical records search, which takes the current system three days to process, should take minutes.

“It’s that fast," he said. "It’s just unbelievable. Wish we had it 10 years ago.”

Police Major Clayton Reiter said the new Windows-based programs will most likely be in place by August. The software and hardware adjustments will be used department-wide, including in vehicle-mounted laptops for officers in the field.

</td></tr></tbody></table> “We are in the electronic world now,” Reiter said. “Everyone wants information right now.”

City Manager Clovis Watson Jr. said that the donation from Singer came after he visited with Watson and inquired about any needs the city may have. Watson said he told Singer about the police department's woeful computer system and that Singer decided to focus his donation on fixing that problem.

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bhaktachris · May 11, 2007

Yeah i saw that too, but i read down further, and saw someone local in alachua responded, pointing out that this person has nothing to do with Hare Krishna.

I looked into it, and found that he is a disciple of Yogananda.