Montel Technologies selected to help wire Winnebago Co. Jail’s new security system

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Winnebago County looks to upgrade security systems in major city buildings, and it’s starting point is the jail.

Winnebago County Jail opened in 2007, and the security system has not been updated since. Deputies say the communication is poor between inmates and staff, to the point where it’s unsafe.

“It’s very scratchy,” Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said. “If somebody is in, and these situations do occur, where they’re screaming into those microphones or into the speakers, you can’t hear it. It’s just about upgrading the whole system.”

The Winnebago Operations and Administrative Committee has been discussing a countywide security update for almost two years. They’ve been slowly piecing together the required steps and speaking with companies that can assist in the project. Recently, two board members went to the jail to test out the current system.

“It was not good at all,” District Seven board member Paul Arena said. “It needs to be fixed. It’s important to have proper communication between inmates and officers.”

Tonight, the committee made another step toward a resolution by approving a wiring company that would replace the current ones. Montel Technologies was selected, a company that Sheriff Caruana said keeps the project local.

“He’s done the airport, he’s done different projects with Loves Park and throughout the community, Winnebago County and the Rockford Region,” Sheriff Caruana said. “I hope that he uses our local workforce, our local union workforce. It’s a win-win for us as a county, for the Sheriff’s office, for the jail and then for the community. It’s working as a team with somebody that’s providing local business.”

The committee discussed the entire project’s logistics, including costs. Arena said it’ll be one of the bigger projects that the county has had in a while.

“We have already gotten prices and so it’s in the 8 to $10 million range for the entire project,” Arena said. “This is being funded through the ARPA money that we received from the federal government in the COVID relief.”

Sheriff Caruana said the most important thing is maintaining community safety.

“We keep moving down the road to provide that technology that’s cutting edge and moving forward, and we have to really do it,” Sheriff Caruana said. “Keep everybody safe when they come in and out of the justice center and in the correction unit.”

Arena said tonight may have been the last discussion on the project, with hopes of developing a resolution in the near future.

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