Squad Cars of the Future

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Oct 28, 2004 11:48AM

A $9 million federal Homeland Security grant is being used to tech out over 1,000 Chicago Police cars. New wireless laptops will be going in and it's gonna happen by December of next year.

Right now squad cars already have computers in them, but the information that can be accessed is very limited. Officers can look up a specific arrest warrant or automobile registration. With the new plan they'll be able to look up any outstanding warrants, citations or vehicle registrations for a suspect. It will also allow officers to access mug shots, arrest records and conviction information on suspects - all from their cars. Until now, officers either had to drive to or call their district station to obtain this information. Another time saver - instead of running back to the station every time they need to file a report, officers will be able to file case reports from their cars.

Now for the nerdy goodness: The laptops were designed for the police department by Panasonic. They can be removed from the squad cars and they have an extended battery life. Of course they require a username and password to access the computer.. and if stolen, police can lock the computer out of the system. Also, officials will be using the same security protocol as the US Dept of Defense and the FBI use to protect against hackers.