NYPD Officers To Be Equipped With Tablets In New Pilot Program

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - New York City police officers will soon be armed with a new crime-fighting tool: tablet computers.

As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton on Tuesday announced the pilot program. The tablets will make their way into the field over the next three months and will give officers access to a wide array of information.

"We have our 911, crime information, our warrant systems. We also have the license plate scanners that, every day, are basically accumulating thousands, tens of thousands of license plate information. The radiation detectors, the chemical detectors that are scattered all over the city," Bratton said. "We really need to find a way to better share this huge amount of information that can make the officer's job much safer but also allow him to respond much more significantly to the public."

Bratton said real-time information translates into better and quicker response to crimes, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.

The tablets will be issued to officers in the field, detectives and intelligence analysts, Bratton said. The commissioner added the experimental phase will determine what the cop on the street needs to see.

Bratton is also working to establish ongoing relationships with the Los Angeles and London police departments where he said they've used advanced crime-fighting technology effectively.

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