New computers speed deputies' work
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on November 13, 2006 1:45 PM
Last month, the Wayne County Sheriffs Office deployed the first of 20 mobile data computers utilizing the new "AirCard" technology offered by Verizon Wireless.
The new computers provide faster data response, access to reports and photos in the car, vehicle registration information, electronic citations, automated-voice response, e-mail and Internet service as well as wireless printing in the car.
The new technology offers a data speed transfer rate of eight times faster than the currently used Highway Patrol CJIN system. And by early next year, Verizon Wireless is performing a network speed upgrade which will be approximately 50 times faster than the current CJIN system. The speed upgrade is a scheduled enhancement for Verizon Wireless and will come at no additional cost to the county.
Currently, patrol car computers only provide e-citation and vehicle registration information. The new computers offer access to e-mail and Internet, which provides an immediate solution for patrol deputies to directly communicate with agencies and officers anywhere in the world.
New wireless printers will also be installed in the cars utilizing "Bluetooth" technology, allowing access to the Sheriff's Office Records Management System.
In June, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office became the first in the state to house all law enforcement records from every agency in the county: the Sheriff's Office, Goldsboro police, Mount Olive police, Fremont police, Walnut Creek police and police at Wayne Memorial Hospital and Cherry Hospital, as well as Seymour Johnson Air Force Base security. The change means deputies can check a name or car a single time and get an instant response from every agency in the county.
Wayne is the first in the state to offer this in the patrol car. While other counties have been able to access their pwn records in the cars for sometime now, Wayne is the first to offer compiled data from every agency in the county directly to deputies in their cars.
Another benefit is the fact that deputies can access photographs of suspects, including state Department of Correction inmates, from the car when necessary. New software called "QuickVoice" is also be utilized. This voice response software will read back information to the deputies. This is important since the deputy will be able to keep his or her eyes on suspects while retrieving criminal information instead of having to read the computer screen.
The Wayne Sheriff's Office has been able to make the computer improvements at far less cost than most counties. Some others have spent upwards of $200,000 just for the infrastructure and licensing to operate a mobile field reporting system. Wayne has spent less than $35,000, including software licenses.