By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Paperwork won't be keeping Eden police handcuffed to the station any longer. Eden officials Wednesday unveiled their new mobile, computerized communications system.
The lap-top technology gives officers access to all the classified information they were only able to get from dispatchers. The computers are mobile, so they can be used anytime, anywhere. That can be real important in rural areas, like Eden, where dispatch is sometimes unstaffed. Kim Soda is Clerk for the Eden Police.
"We only have a dispatcher some of the hours," said Soda. "We go approximately seven hours a day when we don't have a dispatcher."
The lap-tops are being used in Eden Patrol cars, and remotely on location. The Eden Corn Fest was picked to debut the system. It used to take days to complete paperwork generated from the corn fest. But Soda says the mobilized system eliminates the redtape.
"It's going to enable the police officers, who are on the road, as well as at the substation at the corn festival, to access the records that have been put in at our central station," said Soda. "They'll be able to access police reports that other police officers have written, along with the ones they've written themselves. They can look at the history of a person, and or an address, to see if there's any history of violence that would could pose a safety issue to them."
Soda says it will also keep citizens more safe. Officers can be re-deployed more quickly because they won't have to go back to the station to file reports. The system also acts like a silent dispatch when privacy is an issue.
"Sometimes there's stuff we don't want to put on the air, to protect their privacy, especially when we're dealing with a juvenile," said Soda. "So, we can put specifics in the computer that they can read. They can then pull it up and add to it."
Funding for the communications system came from Erie County. East Aurora is slated to be the next area to get the new mobile technology.