August 12, 1999 Web posted at: 3:51 p.m. EDT (1951 GMT) by Dan Caterinicchia

From...

(IDG) -- Two California communities are being protected by police officers with patrol car access to crime databases and records, thanks to a new wireless mobile communication and information system.

PacketCluster Patrol software, produced by Cerulean Technology Inc., Marlborough, Mass., gives the Salinas/Monterey County Mobile Computer Terminal Consortium access to crime-fighting data directly from patrol car-based laptop computers.

Using the wireless network, more than 400 patrol officers in the consortium can access records management systems and county, state and federal databases. The officers can access secure information from one or more of the databases in a matter of seconds with a single query.

"To be able to share records was previously unheard of.... We couldn't do it over the radio because of the privileged nature of the information, but now officers can do background checks on the system securely, right in their cars," said Sgt. Tracy Molfino of the Salinas Police Department.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
	IDG.net home page
Civic.com home page
Get a free subscription to Civic.com's print edition
Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
IDG.net's personal news page
IDG.net's products pages
Year 2000 World
Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletters
Search IDG.net in 12 languages
News Radio
	Fusion audio primers
	Computerworld Minute

"Before, we didn't have the communication between agencies, either in person or through a third party," Molfino said. "Now we have cross-jurisdictional communication, and the whole system is progressing in an appropriate fashion."

The PacketCluster Patrol system uses wireless modems to link the consortium's 100-plus patrol cars to criminal and motor vehicle databases.

Officers can communicate with each other through the system. It also provides the option of cross-referencing previous cases and arrests with variables including identification information, such as birthmarks and scars, and crime patterns in certain locations.

An unexpected bonus is that officers can run registration checks on a vehicle to see if its license plates or registration tags have been reported stolen. With the high price of tags in California, that service is being used daily, Molfino said.

The alliance has four members and will be adding eight more through a recently awarded federal grant from the Community Oriented Policing Services' Making Officer Redeployment Effective program. With its new members, the consortium plans to expand its wireless ability by integrating a geographic information system application.

"With our soon-to-be 12 members, every geographic area of Monterey County will be pulled together into one communications network," Molfino said. "The system is only about three-quarters installed, and we're already getting 10,000 queries a month."