Canton police officers will be staying on the road more hours during their shift thanks to technology upgrades to the patrol cars.
The police department recently installed 17 laptops in all Uniform Patrol and Traffic Enforcement Unit vehicles. The laptops were part of a total technology package paid for by police department impact fees, according to Police Chief Jeff Lance.
The police department paid about $90,000 for all of the laptops, completely installed, as well as a two-year contract for laptop services like connection to the Georgia Crime Information Center, the department’s reporting system and the Internet, which allows them to move information from their cars to the police department.
To save money, Lance said he paid up front for the two-year service package that allows the connections to GCIC, the records management system and the Internet. The entire package, which also included digital radio upgrades, mobile units, new portables and three repeaters with generator backup, was expected to cost between $250,000 and $260,000.
“Now, with going back and re-looking at some stuff, we will only spend about $190,000 to $200,000,” Lance said.
He said it was past time for the police department to get laptops in patrol cars.
“We are behind the times,” Lance said of the in-car technology. “The main issue is that our officers were spending at least two-and-a-half to three hours inside this police department a day.”
Those numbers were based on a study Lance did two years ago when he was appointed as police chief.
He said in-car computers and report-writing abilities would keep more officers out working the roads and patrolling like they should be.
“My issue was we were pulling people off the road when they need to be out there on the road,” he said. “Now, they can sit … on the side of the road and they are still visible. That’s a key to proactive policing instead of reactive policing.”
Officers can do pretty much anything they need inside their patrol cars now. However, if an officer works an accident, he or she must go back to the police department and draw the diagram of the accident.
“Everything can be done from the car,” Lance said. “The only thing we haven’t worked out is the diagram part. The licenses for the program that we are using would have to be put on all the laptops. I’m trying to get a feel if the guys want to do that on laptops. It hasn’t been that big of a deal so far.”
