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Patrol cars now have computers, bringing record-keeping into the technological age Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Medford police officer Josh Danrich uses a laptop computer in his patrol car. New software will allow officers to type reports instead of writing them by hand, saving time. By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Police radios likely will never be obsolete, but they've nearly fallen silent in Medford. With a new computer interface up and running, the police department started wiring all non-priority dispatch calls straight to laptop computers in officers' patrol cars on March 15. The advance is the second step of a three-phase plan to cut down on radio traffic, to ease dispatchers' workload and, eventually, to make the bulk of police records paperless. Dispatch centers could be housed in new building Plans to house three Jackson County 911 dispatch centers in an earthquake-safe structure are under way. A new home for the Medford, Southern Oregon Regional Communications and Ashland dispatch centers is in the very early planning stages, said Paula Gibson, manager of Medford Police Department's communications. A committee is examining building plans with construction standards that would allow the 911 service to remain functional following an earthquake, Gibson said. Upgrading existing structures to meet earthquake standards is expensive, so organizers are looking to build, Gibson said. Planners are focusing on a city-owned plot of land behind Medford fire station No. 6. State law adopted last year requires that dispatch centers consolidate in one location per county. Every county must submit a proposal this fall, Gibson said. Following the lead of larger police departments, Medford started installing laptops inside patrol cars in the fall of 2000. "That's been going on in the big cities for decades; we're just now catching up to technology here," said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. The first phase of the police department's "mobile data computer systems" project allowed officers to send each other e-mail messages and check Motor Vehicle Division records. Now that many calls are dispatched solely through computer, the department plans to install software that will allow officers to write police reports on their laptops. Reports would be sent electronically to the department's records division and stored in a database. Paper copies would still be available to those who need them, said Medford police Lt. Craig Amann. Writing reports from patrol cars will be a big time-saver, said master police officer Randy Sparacino. Officers probably spend at least two hours writing reports in a 12-hour shift, he said. Both officers and sergeants - who approve reports - will be able to spend more time policing from their cars, he added. Using the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, officers get the location, time and pertinent facts of a call and are able to notify dispatch of the case's status, all without using a radio. "Thursday and Friday last week (the radio) was silent, but you can look at the status, and people were doing stuff left and right," said Sparacino. Police radios will not be phased out, Amann said. Crimes in progress, such as robberies, burglaries and assaults, still go out over radio first. If they don't happen to be in their cars to see the computer-dispatched call, all officers on duty still hear and know what's going on. Panasonic Toughbooks were purchased and installed more than a year ago in 24 of the department's patrol cars for $4,800 each. The data transmission contract with AT&T is $49 per computer per month. The new interface that links the laptops to the CAD program cost $153,000, funded through federal grants and city money. Last week, the City Council approved a contract to buy the report-writing program, to be paid for with federal grants and city money. Central Point police, which contracts with Medford for its dispatching service, also uses the CAD system. Five out of six police department patrol cars have laptop computers, which were installed last year for a similar price paid by Medford, said police Chief Mike Sweeny. Sweeny is still considering whether officers will send reports electronically to records clerks, he said. All Medford officers spent four hours in training learning the new system. Most say they like it even though a few bugs need to be worked out, Sparacino said. Because the system uses cell phones to link to the main system, the computers can go off-line when cars hit areas with weak signals. Officers don't type and drive, though. The police department's policy requires officers to pull over if they need to work on their laptops, Sparacino said. "We don't want someone rear-ending somebody because their heads are stuck in the computer, typing." Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.