Ishpeming police hope night vision will cut down on crime

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ISHPEMING - Add the Ishpeming City Police Department to the list of things that can see in the dark.

Thanks to the efforts of officer Bob Sibley and donations from local clubs and businesses, the department was able to recently purchase two hand-held night vision monoculars.

"It's a project I started on a few years back due to increased violence in the schools," Sibley said.

The project is named Let's Take Back the Night.

Worries over school shootings and increased drug activity in the city, as well as fewer officers on the city police force, led to the purchase of the two units, Sibley said.

"With a shortage of manpower, the more technology we need," he said.

The two units cost around $1,500 each and operate by emitting infrared light, which is visible to the sensors in the units, but not by the human eye. The simple units require little training.

Although the units can be used in complete darkness, they also use alternate light sources, like stars, to make images more detailed. Too much light, however, can damage the eye.

"They're very sensitive, but very useful," Sibley said.

The units do not display color, as everything seen through the scopes is a shade of green, but do allow for enough detail to be shown that faces and shapes can be clearly identified. The two scopes can also be used both indoors and outdoors.

In addition to assisting in the identification of suspects in darkened areas, Sibley said he hopes officers use the units in search and rescue situations.

"If I get called into a school and I were to go down in the basement, I have all the equipment I need to go down into that dark and dirty basement," Sibley said.

Officers bring the two scopes on patrol with them so they can be ready for use in any situation, he added.

If sufficient funding can be found, kits and attachments could be purchased to convert the hand-held units into headsets or mount them on rifles, Sibley said.

"In rural America, you never know what kind of situation you're going to have," he said.