Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Did what we had hoped to do

Back in 1994, one of the things on my wish list was to implement mobile data computers in patrol cars for Lincoln police officers. Clair Lindquist, our IT manager, and Sgt. Todd Beam were my collaborators. We occasionally walked downtown for lunch, often accompanied by Tim Travis from the City Information Services Division.

The four of us brainstormed at the food court from time to time about exactly what we hoped to accomplish with mobile data, and how we could get there. While delivering dispatch information and messaging between units were two of the functions we sought, our real dream was to give officers in the field access to the same rich information resources they enjoyed at headquarters, where they could use terminals to access our growing database: the LPD Records Management System.

I had some ideas; Clair, Todd, and Tim, though, had something more: talent. The next few years involved a flurry of activity. A bond issue was floated to upgrade the radio system to support mobile data; we ported much of our RMS to .html output that could be consumed in a browser; we sought grant and budget funding to support the efforts, and so forth. There was a political side, too. Not everyone at LPD was on board with the concept, and naysayers were flexing their muscle. I remember very well being called out at a City Council meeting by a council member who "had heard from several officers" that this was an unnecessary boondoggle.

By the end of the decade, though, we were well on the way, Todd was installing mobile data computers in each new model years' patrol cars, and Clair was continuing to add more functionality as opportunities arose. By the middle of the next decade, the fleet was fully equipped. We had also brought Lincoln Fire & Rescue and the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office aboard in mobile data. It didn't stop there, either, as we extended our mobile data network regionally, bringing in a dozen other Southeast Nebraska agencies, such as Thayer County, Milford, Seward, Nemaha County, York, Otoe County, NSP, UNL, and more.

Fast forward to Monday, June 2, 2014. As usual, I was reading a few police reports in the living room over my first cup of coffee, when I came across B4-048400. It was a nice case in which Officer Joshua Schaaf spotted a car with stolen license plates, determined the identity of the two occupants despite misdirection, located some pharmaceuticals and recognized them as controlled substances, and confirmed some outstanding arrest warrants.

The officer had used his mobile data computer to do all of these things, accessing the nationwide NCIC database, the State NCIS database, the Lincoln police RMS, our local mug shot system, and an online pill identifier app from WebMD. Of particular note to me was his use of the "known associates" feature in our RMS, whereby the officer selects a name, and looks for any other names this person has been associated with on any other police reports in the past 34 years. This pretty quickly ended the ruse and provided the true name of one of the defendant who had been deceitful.

This kind of thing goes on regularly these days, but as I read the officer's probable cause affidavits on these two arrests yesterday morning, I couldn't help reflecting on the fact that we had accomplished precisely what we had hoped to do when we started down this path 20 years ago: provided some valuable resources to police officers in the front  seat of the patrol car, and now even in the palm of their hand.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like that Spider Solitaire on that Mobile Data 'Puter.

Anonymous said...

From the last line of this article, it doesn't seem everyone in the department is able to find stats like you can. I would think that would be a very simple query to run.

I suppose there may be a new round-a-bout there in the near future.

Tom Casady said...

12:09,

The article doesn't say when they asked, or who. Not everyone is able to drop what they're doing to work on a data request from a reporter.

By the way, there really has been an uptick in crashes at 56th and Normal lately--although it still isn't quite in the top 50 crash locations in Lincoln. I travel that route regularly, and nothing has changed that would account for the flurry of collisions.

12:09 said...

It does surprise me that there is actually a small increase in accidents there. Usually people just think it has increased. I think a round-a-bout like the one at 14th and Superior would go good at 56th and Normal.

12:09 said...

It does surprise me that there is actually a small increase in accidents there. Usually people just think it has increased. I think a round-a-bout like the one at 14th and Superior would go good at 56th and Normal.

Clean said...

Congratulations, Tom. You're doing things now that we (I) couldn't even imagine "back in the day..." It's too bad that there are always those who like the old ways so much that they lose any imagination about what they could do. Those always (and probably always will) prefer "kicking ass and taking names" over doing smart police work.

Clean said...

Congratulations, Tom. You're doing things now that we (I) couldn't even imagine "back in the day..." It's too bad that there are always those who like the old ways so much that they lose any imagination about what they could do. Those always (and probably always will) prefer "kicking ass and taking names" over doing smart police work.

Anonymous said...

People mock what they fear. If you are too afraid of new technology to get with the program, then at least step aside and let us play with our new toys. Just because things are being modernized doesn't mean you even have to use it. Just keep sitting back and earning your paycheck.

The problem seems to be that as technology has progressed there is more and more a lack of understanding when you are forced to 'kick ass and take names' as Clean put it. I guess nerds don't like to fight.