Computers in the squad cars? It's already a reality for the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department

A Mobile Data Terminal in one of the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department's squad cars

As policing changes, law enforcement more and more is using computer technology--even in squad cars.

Three squad cars used by the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department already have "Mobile Data Terminals"--laptops that are loaded with special software than enables deputies to do their jobs better.  Winneshiek County supervisors have given tentative approval to purchasing five more MDTs this budget year.  When two new squad cars are purchased next fiscal year, all ten Sheriff's Department squad cars will have the Mobile Data Terminals.

The MDTs help deputies in a variety of ways.  For instance, deputies can now use a hand-held scanner to read the bar coding on the back of someone's driver's license.  The information then automatically fills out a report form.

The MDTs also can pull up records from anywhere, transforming the squad car into a virtual desktop.  That will allow deputies to do paperwork while they're waiting in a hospital emergency ward or allow them to finish paperwork at home.

Iowa Department of Transportation consultant Joe Hallbeck says the so-called "TRACS" software will "do the job for police officers so they can do their jobs as quickly and safely as possible."

Hallbeck adds that as versatile as the software is now, there is additional software coming some time late this year that would allow the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department to pull up a map and see the location of every other law enforcement patrol car in the area, including State Patrol cars.

Hallbeck says the so-called "MACH" software also shows traffic cameras, the locations of abandoned cars and can be expanded to include usage by fire department and EMS units in the future.  "There's so much more that could be done," he concludes--which is why, increasingly, a computer has become a necessary part of a police officer's equipment.