Laptop computers present patrol with better options

It's a quieter ride these days inside some Missouri State Highway Patrol cars. The radio chatter of a dozen voices is slowly being replaced by the light patter of keystrokes and a robotic female voice giving troopers driving directions and short announcements.

Inside five of the 14 patrol cars rolling through Cape Girardeau County are new Panasonic laptops which have been mounted above the radio -- linking troopers to a wireless network and giving them nearly instant access to driver and vehicle records and criminal background checks without even saying a word into their radios.

It's a technology that Sgt. Cody Fulkerson calls an efficient tool for officers that lessens the burden on radio operators, who often juggle multiple officers over the airwaves.

"This gives officers at their fingertips everything they need to do and at the same time frees up radio operators to do other things they need to address," he said.

Wired to go

Fulkerson's laptop was installed May 5 at a patrol garage in Jefferson City by the Information Systems Division, or ISD. Like many troopers, his new cruiser came pre-equipt to handle the computer with all the necessary wiring and electronics.

In the 13 Southeast Missouri counties of Troop E, about 25 of the troop's 72 officers have laptops, said Mike Hall, assistant chief of radio operations at the patrol's office in Poplar Bluff.

"It will free up the radio channels," he said. "Many times our channels become saturated."

More record checks are being made through the laptops, but radio traffic hasn't dropped considerably yet, Hall said.

The state's rollout of computers began with a pilot program two years ago with 18 officers in Saline and Cole counties, said Capt. Kim Hull of the Technical Services Bureau, which oversees the ISD. When the patrol went looking for software, it didn't find what it needed on the market or in use by other law enforcement agencies.

"Our systems are so unique to the patrol that we basically had the software custom made," Hull said. "That's why it took a little longer to put our program together."

After the pilot program ended, 150 laptops were installed a year ago in Troop C, surrounding the St. Louis area. They were paid for by a $1.75 million federal grant. The patrol is now in the midst of installing another 400 computers with another $4 million grant.

A $500,000 grant was recently awarded to the patrol to research satellite networks in a pilot program with 38 officers, Hull said.

Portable office

At the end of a shift, Fulkerson pulls his laptop out and takes it into the zone office in Jackson where he downloads reports on arrests, traffic stops and investigations directly to the troop headquarters in Poplar Bluff.

Other abilities include interoffice e-mail and instant messaging between an officer and headquarters and from officer to officer.

But there won't be any Web surfing in patrol cars because the laptops cannot connect to the Internet through the department's wireless network, Hull said.

Perhaps most impressive feature is the computer's global positioning system, or GPS, which provides detailed road maps, driving directions and a verbal annoucements when and where the next turn should be to reach a destination. The system also shows radio operators each patrol car's exact location on a computer screen -- particularly useful if radio contact is lost.

Fulkerson first used the GPS on the day he drove back from the laptop installation. Because it can speak, he didn't have to look at the screen to know when his next turn was coming up.

"It's pretty precise," Fulkerson said. "It directs you exactly into where you are going. I was impressed."

Future plans

A few areas of the state remain "dead spots" for this wireless program with few or no cellular towers to carry the patrol's signals. Those include areas south of Kansas City to McDonald County and the south-central part of the state near West Plains and Willow Springs. But officers in those locations will still be a part of the program.

"We'll still put a computer in the car for the 150 officers who won't be able to do wireless connections," Hull said. "But they'll only be able to use them to write reports."

While radio operators at headquarters can see where the troopers are, the troopers can't see each other. Future plans include enabling the laptops to display the locations and statuses of all troopers in a zone, Hull said. The patrol also hopes to soon upgrade the laptops so they can download driver's license photos. In addition, the patrol wants to add more voice capabilities so officers can learn without looking at the screen if a person has warrants or is in a stolen car.

"That was one of the concerns in the begining, that the computers would be too distracting and officers would have to take their eyes off offenders," Hull said.

Most officers are taking to the laptops very well, Hull said. He interviewed officers in Troop C based in St. Louis six months after they got their laptops.

"There were virtually no negative comments," he said. "One man, who has been in the patrol for 17 years, was pessimistic at first. But he said they'd have to pry it out of his hands now. He called it the best tool the patrol has ever given him."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160