On the agenda: Long Beach meeting — License Plate Reader (Jul 2)

Thursday July 2nd 2026

3:00 PM

2400 Oriole Trail | Long Beach, IN

Quarterly Meeting
Thursday July 2nd 2026, 3:00pm
1st quarter meeting of 2026 was canceled. Therefore, no minutes
Commission Members Present
Chief Mark Swistek
John Kocher
Megan Applegate
Councilwoman Colleen Lane
1.

OLD BUSINESS

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Update: New Police Boat: The Police Department have been awarded the FEMA Port Security
grant in the sum of $227,281.20. FEMA will provide $170,460.90 in grant funding which is 75%
of the grant and the Town is required to match 25% which is $56,820.30. We will also be
reimbursed $1,500.00 for the cost related to hiring LEXIPOL to assist with writing the grant
application. Lexipol was paid $4,000.00 from the police donation account to assist us with the
grant application. This January we will be ordering the boat from FLUID and anticipate receiving
the boat in March or April. To date we have raised $57,000.00+ in donations from local
businesses and residents towards the matching funds. The Michigan City Port Authority is
providing a 30-foot slip at the Marina at no cost to keep the vessel in the water from May
through September. During the winter the boat will be stored within the Public Safety Building.
July 2026 update: FEMA has yet to release the funds for the grant award. Still waiting on
additional information from FEMA.

o

2026 ATV purchase: The Police Department received a generous $4,000.00 donation from the
Long Beach Civic Association in December 2025 towards the replacement of our 2011 Yamaha
550cc ATV. The 2011 unit was experiencing transmission shifting concerns and we can obtain a
$2,100.00 trade in value for the unit currently. The new 2026 Yamaha 750cc ATV has been
received and is fully operational in time for the busy summer months. Thank you to Corporal
Matthew Farthing as he upfitted the unit with emergency lights and siren. Typically, this would
have cost us $2500.00+ for a vendor to perform the installation.

2.
•

NEW BUSINESS
License Plate Reader / Success story: I wish to share with you a call for service in the Town of
Long Beach. Recently Corporal Matthew Farthing and I responded to a residence for a possible
suicidal subject. The original call was received from the mother of the 44-year-old victim. The

mother was asking us to check her son’s residence to see if he was home even through his
vehicle was not at the residence at the time. The mother met us at the residence and stated that
her son sent a text message to a family member stating, “I am very suicidal right now”. Three
years ago, the son previously attempted to commit suicide and mom was extremely concerned.
Additional texts were sent to family members stating he would never see them again. After
checking the residence, we were unable to locate the person of concern. Corporal Matthew

Farthing immediately began to use the technology we have available to law
enforcement to search for the location of the person. The LaPorte County E911 regional
dispatch center was asked to “ping” the persons cellphone. It gave us limited
information but wasn’t the best. Corporal Farthing obtained the vehicle license plate of
the person and entered it into our FLOCK license plate reader (LPR) system that was just
installed in the Town this January. Corporal Farthing then began to track the movement
of the vehicle. This eventually led us to the last area that the plate was read at the
intersection of Franklin Street and US 20 in Michigan City. The vehicle was observed on
the LPR system traveling south on Franklin Street. Officers began searching the various
parking lots south of the last known location and Corporal Farthing located the vehicle
and subject at the cigarette store. At which time the person of concern was transported
safely to Franciscan Hospital for a mental health evaluation. The mother joined her son
at the hospital and was very grateful. In recent years, the license plate reader technology
that is now a nationwide law enforcement technology has been the topic of discussion on social
media that “big brother is watching”. The cost of the technology is also a concern to some
taxpayers. For example, the Town pays $3,000.00 per camera per year which is $12,000 annually
for our four (4) LPR cameras. But to put this in true perspective, the mother of the 44-year-old
victim could not thank us enough for locating her son who she assumed, may not have been
located alive. The cost of this technology is nothing when knowing that time was of importance
that day and the sooner, we were able to locate this individual this likely prevented him from
harming himself. Corporal Matthew Farthing did an exceptional job on this day using the
technology available to him to not delay locating this person. Without hesitation he used
technology and coordination with the 911 dispatchers, Trail Creek, and Michigan City Police
Officers to locate this person safely.
•

2027 New Police Vehicle: This fall we will begin the process of researching a new police unit to
replace our 2016 Police Interceptor unit. The new vehicle will be assigned to Deputy Marshal
Matthew Vopat. The plan is to present the request to the Town council in either the month of
November or December of 2026, keeping in mind it will take several months to receive the
vehicle from the manufacture to include the upfitting of the emergency lights etc. The vehicle is
part of the Town’s five-year capital plan.

•

Policy update: The amended Town Handbook was approved by the Town council at their June 8th
monthly meeting. Each employee has been provided a copy.

•

Portable radio replacement / Grant opportunity: We have applied for a grant with Congressman
Frank Mrvan’s office through the fiscal year 2027 community project funding grant. The grant
request is for $65,000.00 in funding for the remainder of our portable radio upgrades. There are
no required matching funds. We were notified recently that our request has passed the first of
three hurdles. The spring of 2027 we will learn if our request was approved.

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EV police vehicle grant: Our grant application to the Indiana Office of Energy Development for
the three (3) EV police vehicles was denied. We applied for $248,000.00 in funding with a
$48,000.00 matching funds request. Several other Northwest Indiana departments were also
denied.

3.

Public Comments:

4.

Commission Comments:

5.

Adjournment: Concluded meeting at

Next meeting: September 17th 2026 at 3:00pm
Agenda/Minutes prepared by: Chief Mark Swistek

Officer Name
Chief Mark J. Swistek
Colleen Lane
John Kocher
Megan Applegate

Position / Title
Police Chief / Town Administrator
Council Member
Citizen Member
Citizen Member

Appointing Authority
Ordinance (Ex Officio)
President Appointment
President Appointment
President Appointment

Term Start
1/1/2025
1/1/2025
1/1/2025
1/1/2025

Term End
12/31/2025
12/31/2025
12/31/2025
12/31/2025

ADA Accommodations: The Town of Long Beach encourages participation by the community and is committed to ensuring equal access
to its meetings, programs, and services for all residents and visitors. If you have any questions or need assistance or reasonable
accommodations to participate in and/or observe the meeting, please contact the Clerk-Treasurer’s Office at (219) 874-6616 or via email
at [email protected] at least two (2) business days before the scheduled meeting.
Please Note: This is a preliminary agenda for the designated meeting and is subject to modification at any time, including during the
course of the meeting.

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