NCJ Number
221174
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 55 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 56-59
Date Published
November 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article presents and discusses 10 facts a police chief should know about selecting and implementing mobile technologies for police vehicles.
Abstract
First, a field officer with access to a mobile data solution will have information about vehicles and individuals encountered in the field, which facilitates the adoption of appropriate and safer strategies. Second, providing front-line officers with the ability to complete reports while in the field minimizes routine paperwork at headquarters. Third, by empowering mobile personnel to perform background checks and update their own availability status through mobile technologies, dispatchers are able to focus on the management of active critical incidents. Fourth, entering accident and case reports while in the field promotes comprehensive, accurate reporting and enables officers to spend more time in the field. Fifth, deploying mobile computers reduces the amount of radio congestion. Sixth, mobile systems that interface with automatic-vehicle-location technology enhance officer safety and optimize the dispatch of officers. Seventh, a mobile computer-assisted-dispatch map allows officers to find specific areas quickly and easily with the option of visual routing maps or verbal directions. Eighth, mobile technologies provide officers with access to standard operating procedures, general orders, deployment plans, and action plans for major events. Ninth, field officers can use mobile technology in quickly cordoning off areas where emergency incidents and criminal events have occurred. Tenth, officers should be continually trained in the mobile system's operation in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency in using it.