Picture of the Year
N.M. Police Use IPads As Crime-Fighting Tool
BY DAN MCKAY
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, N.M.
The devices have been used to replace laptops and could be an integral part of the Albuquerque Police Department at some point.
Created: January 17, 2012
- More and more Albuquerque police have reason to ask: Is there an app for that?
- City Hall has purchased more than 30 iPads that will be used to help APD fight crime, officials say.
Police Chief Ray Schultz said Monday the devices — which have cost the city $19,500 so far — have been used to replace laptops and could be an integral part of the department at some point.
Video conferences and the ability to share pictures (of a suspect, for example) on a large screen are immediate benefits, he said. The small size, price and portability are also assets, he said. In other words, police departments like the iPad for the same reasons consumers do. “Law enforcement across the country is starting to look at this,” Schultz said. The uses could expand as new applications are developed, he said. Schultz envisions a day when an officer can use the iPad to shoot pictures, record video and audio, and bundle it all together with a police report that can be emailed immediately to a victim.
Translation and transcription applications might be useful, too, he said, and the iPad could replace the laptops in police cars.
At this point, the deployment of iPads is still being tested, Schultz said.
Police executives, the gang and homicide units, public information officers and criminalistics experts have iPads now.
“We feel very comfortable with the additional functionality that they provide,” Schultz said.
Copyright 2012 – Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Don’t be distracted by the phone
Submitted by:
Sgt. Glenn A. Zier, Clay Co. (FL) SO
Turn off or ignore your cell phones. Officers responding Code 3 to a call have been seen talking on their phone on the way to the call. Who are the talking to, their funeral director?
How about the officer who gets out of the car with the Bluetooth in his ear? What are you thinking? Who is so important that you have to be instantly available? I can not think of one single person in the world who is so important that I have to be ready to answer the phone the minute they call. The cell phone is one of the greatest innovations to civilization but perhaps one of the most detrimental distractions to law enforcement. Officers don’t have to make decisions, they can call a Sgt. They can talk all the way to the shooting call. They can answer the phone while checking a building. They don’t have to get out of their car and go into a convience store and talk to the local cleark (who, by the way, is a fount of information) in order to use the phone to call a citizen.
Look at the cell phone as another tool and use it accordingly.
http://www.policeone.com/police-technology/tips/1817340-Dont-be-distracted-by-the-phone/
Help us help you.
We want to hear from you guys on the street. We want you guys to rate our Apps and write reviews with recommendations for any improvements you feel are needed. We try to only release Apps when we fill they are ready for you guys to use. But if you do find a problem with any of the Apps please report it to us. Read more »
