Police put new laptops online
Published on March 18th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The wave of the future has hit the Stoneham Police as the department embarks on bringing high technology to the streets.
The town went on line this week with computers in cruisers to aid the day-to-day patrol of the community. According to Police Chief Eugene Passaro, the state has put the "finishing touches" on a whole new system that will allow immediate access to information for patrol officers and detectives.
Officer Joseph Denehy, the project's systems manager, is excited about getting the computers up and running, following weeks of waiting for the state to rectify system problems. He described these "glitches" as "pretty standard" for any new system.
The benefit of the new technology is the immediacy of information which can be obtained. Rather than a patrol officer contacting a busy dispatch center by radio and then awaiting response, information, via this system, can be accessed directly by the officer. The types of information obtained will allow a police officer to know who and what is about to be dealt with, even in a routine stop.
The system, which will be hooked into the National Crime Information Center to allow access to out-of-state records, will make car-to-car communication possible as well as car-to-base messaging. Denehy described the system as a "silent dispatch," and a bonus for officer safety.
According to Denehy, the computers work in a fashion similar to cell phones but with one major difference. He stated that the network over which calls are made and information is accessed is "very secure."
"No one else can access the information," said Denehy.
This technology was developed by Marlboro-based Cerulean Technologies and services police stations nationwide. In addition to Stoneham, the city of Medford is using the technology, while Everett and Malden are just beginning to put them into their cruisers. Boston is "piece-mealing it" at this point, according to Denehy, and the Massachusetts State Police, while interested, have not "jumped in with both feet."
Stoneham's system will begin with four or five computers for patrol cars with an additional two or three portable hand-held units that can be easily moved around. Training sessions for both users and system administrators have begun.
According to Police Sergeant Herbert Moore, who works on researching grant programs and other available money for the department, the program was made possible, in part, by a $30,000 multifaceted, federal grant entitled COPSMORE.
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