Document text
Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad August 27, 2005 On duty APD patrol cars never shut down Computer systems require extensive rebooting process By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Rebooting 1. The computer boots up the operating system. 2. The wireless card is recognized and initialized. 3. The encryption software communicates with the Medford dispatch center system for verification. 4. The officer must manually log-on to the Medford system. 5. The software needs to be manually loaded. During a fender-bender on Siskiyou Boulevard, an unattended police car is locked and left idling while the officer interviews people involved in the accident and waits for a tow truck to arrive. Had the officer turned off the cruiser while on the call, the police car could also be in need of a tow truck, or at least a jump-start. Two years ago, each Ashland police car was equipped with a mobile data computer. The technology upgrade moved some dispatcher-to-officer communication from hand radios to computer screens, making it possible for officers to receive and retain information while driving; and allows them to search law enforcement data systems with the push of a button. But the computers come with a downside — they require a lot of power to operate. “The problem we ran into when we installed them in cars is the battery would go dead when they turned off the cars,” APD deputy chief Rich Walsh said. “Then they’d get a hot call to run to and, bingo, the car wouldn’t start.” The solution: Leave the cars running. Powerful computers So-called “mobile data computers” are commonplace for law enforcement agencies all over the Rogue Valley. “The officer can do a lot of work that we previously asked dispatch to do,” said Talent Police Chief Bob Rector, who had the computers installed in his department’s vehicles a year ago. But keeping the computers on while the car is off drains the battery akin to leaving the headlights on. However, turning off the computer system can slow an officer’s ability to respond to a call. “If an officer shuts off the MDC — let’s say to go to lunch or on a call — it can take from five to seven minutes to get the MDC up again,” Walsh said. Concern that service levels will drop if officers cannot access data on in-car computers led the department to OK idling police cruisers in Ashland while city mechanics devise a solution to prevent the energy drain on batteries. “It’s like anything else: When you start using things for the first time you run into problems,” Walsh said. Two Ashland cruisers have been equipped with an extra battery and a heavy-duty alternator that can handle the electronic draw even while the cars are off, according to Friesen. The trial began earlier this month and, so far, seems a viable solution. “This is the first alternative that we’ve come up with,” Walsh said. Drained batteries have not been an issue in Talent, where, as soon as the MDCs were installed, an automatic cutoff switch was added to each police cruiser. The mechanism turns off all electronics once the vehicle’s engine has been quiet for two hours. “You’ve got all those things that are drawing juice off the battery and one of them gets left on,” Rector said, explaining a police radio left on or radar gun not turned off can zap a battery the same as an MDC does. “These cutoff switches prevent that problem from occurring.” Rising fuel costs have not yet come into play in Ashland, and the pollution emitted from idling cruisers is “negligible,” according to Tony Friesen, a fleet maintenance technician for the City of Ashland. “You’d be surprised how little fuel gets burned in an idle,” Friesen said. “These cars are so clean.” Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.