January 17, 2012

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NM cops consider replacing laptops with iPads

The Albuquerque Police Department received more than 30 iPads purchased by City Hall and may use them in place of in-car computers

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By Dan McKay
Albuquerque Journal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More and more Albuquerque police have reason to ask: Is there an app for that?

City Hall has purchased more than 30 iPads that will be used to help APD fight crime, officials say.

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Police Chief Ray Schultz said Monday the devices — which have cost the city $19,500 so far — have been used to replace laptops and could be an integral part of the department at some point.

Video conferences and the ability to share pictures (of a suspect, for example) on a large screen are immediate benefits, he said. The small size, price and portability are also assets, he said. In other words, police departments like the iPad for the same reasons consumers do. "Law enforcement across the country is starting to look at this," Schultz said. The uses could expand as new applications are developed, he said. Schultz envisions a day when an officer can use the iPad to shoot pictures, record video and audio, and bundle it all together with a police report that can be emailed immediately to a victim.

Translation and transcription applications might be useful, too, he said, and the iPad could replace the laptops in police cars.

At this point, the deployment of iPads is still being tested, Schultz said.

Police executives, the gang and homicide units, public information officers and criminalistics experts have iPads now.

"We feel very comfortable with the additional functionality that they provide," Schultz said.

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