Photos by MIKE CHIEN Officer Robert
DeFrancesco tests out the newly computer-equipped patrol
cars.
By Helen Seliverstov
Daily Bruin Contributor
When UCPD Lt. Manny Garza receives a call from a dispatcher, he
will immediately be able to see all information available,
including trends in the neighborhood, on his new portable
“toughbook” laptop screen in his patrol car.
UCPD will install 11 laptops into patrol cars and train officers
next week, allowing each car and officer to use this new technology
to obtain a maximum amount of information within 10 seconds.
“We will hear the original information from dispatch and
then be able to see all of the current and updated data, which
would eliminate redundancy,” Garza said.
Police officers will also be able to type in a license plate
number and see if a car has been reported stolen, along with its
registration status and its history.
There is a modem installed in every police car trunk that is
connected to AT&T Wireless Service, explained Helen Getsou,
UCPD Information Systems Manager.
These laptops can be used in and out of the car allowing an
officer to stay out in the field and do follow up work there.
This is especially relevant to officers patrolling University
Apartments that are located in Palms because they can stay out
longer, rather than having to come back to type up a report, said
director of Police Community Services Nancy Greenstein.
 UCPD patrol cars are finally entering the digital
age.
All the computers have a geographic mapping system, which allows
officers to see a map of crime locations and trends in a specific
neighborhood.
“We are working toward being able to access map databases
in interactive real time as well,” Getsou said.
In the future this will allow officers to see changing maps of
neighborhoods where crimes are happening.
Not only do the UCPD laptops have colorful screens, but the new
$6,000 computers are loaded with other helpful gadgets.
For example, the laptops ““ made from titanium metal
““ are spill-proof and can be dropped from up to five feet
without being damaged.
“These laptops can sustain rough and tough
conditions,” Getsou said.
In addition, the computers have colorful touch screens that
switch from day to night mode and operate in a Windows 2000
system.
This new technology was acquired through a grant called the
Community Oriented Policing Services Making Officer Redeployment
Effective program, subsidized by the United States Department of
Justice.
COPS MORE received $164,000 from the government and UCLA matched
25 percent of that sum, giving an additional $54,500 to the
program.
While COPS MORE was approved in 1999, the development and
planning of this program has been a “saga” that is
finally ending, Greenstein said.
“It is all finally coming together, and we are hoping that
all the problems are behind us,” she said.
When the grant was approved, this was cutting-edge technology,
but now these devices are becoming more common, Greenstein
added.
For example, the Los Angeles Police Department has been using
Mobile Digital Terminals for many years, but that system is
outdated compared to COPS MORE.
LAPD officers use computers that are hardwired into their patrol
cars, but were recently upgraded, said Officer Edwardo Trinidad of
the West Los Angeles division.
He remembers computers being in patrol cars for a long time.
They used to take up almost half of the front seat, though, and
were very cumbersome.
Trinidad said he was also excited about color monitors, making
information easier to see from when it was on a black-and-white
screen.