One day Commissioner Fred Bealefeld envisions Blackberries as vital a tool on an officer's belt as his weapon.
"With this technological vision for the future, I think it portends very well for this police department," said Bealefeld.
The device is called a pocket cop.
It is a Blackberry loaded with national and local law enforcement databases, GPS, gang, gun and sex offender registries. It is a direct and mobile connection to the vital information the force uses to fight crime.
Sgt. Shawn Edwards has had one for a couple of months as part of a pilot program and finds it incredibly useful.
"It is just very helpful for investigations right there on the street, you don't have to go back to your office to run records or other various inquiries...you can do it all here on the pocket cop."
So far officers have been able to pull up arrest records, mug shots and history all in just minutes and on the spot. A mobile device the commissioner hopes gets his cops out of cars and walking streets.
"This pocket cop will help move them away from the car and break that tether and they can use, take advantage of all the technological upgrades and databases that we've built over the last few years and put them right on their belt," said Bealefeld
The pocket cop costs about 17 hundred dollars a piece to buy and maintain.
Using more than three million dollars in federal stimulus money, the force is about to buy about two thousand to cover every patrol officer. The first department the commissioner says to be implementing this technology on such a wide spread basis.
So far the commissioner has seen results. He says there have been more arrests of people with warrants in the area of the pilot program because officers can check people’s records on the spot.
BPD says it will not invest as much in the near eight thousand dollar laptops retrofitted for squad cars to help cover future costs.
