Birmingham area law enforcement deploying technology quickly to share paperwork in patrol cars

It is soon to be a whole new world in police and sheriff’s offices across the Birmingham, Alabama, area. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office — which is installing New World software in its vehicles now — it is a lot like putting a genie in every car.

The Birmingham News’s Carol Robinson writes that the New World software system lets law enforcement officials create a one-stop shop for identifying suspects and spotting crime trends, among other things.

It is, they say, a way to wirelessly integrate data from the field, dispatch, the records room, the jail and even neighboring departments.

The Hoover Police Department already has fully implemented the program. The sheriff’s office is set to begin going live at the end of June, and The Birmingham Police Department is aiming to launch New World in its jail by the end of 2010, with the rest of the department to follow in early 2011. Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook police departments are also headed that way.

“We will be a safer community for it, no doubt about that,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale. “I would say this will be extremely troubling for the criminal element in Jefferson County.”

With the new software, routine dispatches will be sent wirelessly to patrol cars freeing the radio channels for emergency traffic.

Using their in-car computers, deputies will be able to access NCIC information such as warrants and tag information, without going through the dispatch center. They also will be able to access jail records and other reports from inside their cars.

Field reports will be taken on the in-car computers and transmitted to the Records Division, drastically reducing the amount of paper used and increasing efficiency.

The rank and file will be able search records from any desktop or car computer. Basically, crime statistics and information can be gleaned in a matter of seconds.

The capability, authorities said, will make identifying crime trends, offenders and arresting offenders faster and better. “The information flowing to them in patrol cars will be 200 more times than it is now,” said technical services Deputy Ken Sams. “This is their office now.”

It is the kind of paperless technology, authorities contend, that has long been reserved for science fiction or TV shows such as “CSI.”

“Information on criminals that used to take investigators days to find will now be ready at the touch of a button,” said Chief Deputy Randy Christian. “Information on crime trends that we study to formulate a war plan used to take hours of going over hard copy reports figuring out times, place and methods,” he said. “That, too, will now be done with the push of a button.”

Robinson writes that the sheriff’s office jail segment will go live by 22 June. The rest of the components should be live by 1 November.

The $3.7 million project was funded through U.S. congressional appropriations and federal grants.

Hoover police started the process five years ago. The department has been “paperless” for almost two years now. “Some of the old-timers were scared to death of the change. They didn’t like it,” said Hoover Capt. Ken York. “Now, if it’s not working perfectly, they’re the first ones to cry foul.”

In the area of office management, it has greatly increased the efficiency, and saved money. “Come Monday morning when we look at significant events or major cases, we used to make copies of every report to distribute throughout the police department,” York said. “That might be 11 copies of 40 or 50 reports. Now, everybody just logs on to their computer and looks at whatever they want to.”

It is expected to be even more invaluable in fighting crime, especially when Jefferson County and Birmingham are up and running. “As soon as everybody catches up and gets live, the tools to investigators and officers on the street will be phenomenal,” York said. “We will be able to share information in the blink of an eye.”

“If someone commits a crime in one city, we will already be looking for them before they can get on the interstate,” he said. “It will be a giant leap for us on the streets.”