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packaged in ruggedized
<br />cases like one from Symbol
<br />Technologies on Holtsville,
<br />New York, that comes in
<br />what's called a Rhino Skin
<br />case. There's another from
<br />Casio, which also comes in
<br />a case.
<br /> Battery life in PDAs is an
<br />attribute. Typically, -re-
<br />chargeable batteries last
<br />anywhere from eight hours
<br />to two months, having far
<br />greater longevity than ener-
<br />gy-hungry laptops. Another
<br />plus is their portability.
<br />Weighing in at 4 to 9
<br />ounces, they're about 1/10
<br />the weight of a 7-pound lap-
<br />top -- an advantage when
<br />chasing a suspect by bike.
<br />
<br />I)~'actica[ uses
<br /> The bottom line is PDAs
<br />are easy to handle. When
<br />
<br />Here the Stowaway Portable
<br />Keyboard from Think Outside
<br />unfolds to a full-size
<br />keyboard that can be used
<br />with Handspring Visor
<br />handhelds, Palm Pilots and
<br />other pocket PC-based
<br />products.
<br />
<br />you're at the scene of an
<br />incident, pen tablets are
<br />good but they're a little on
<br />the big side, says Lt. Roger
<br />Luebkeman of the Santa
<br />Clara (California) Police
<br />Department. And you have
<br />to put the tablet somewhere
<br />while you take care of other
<br />
<br />MAG CINCHTM
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<br />
<br /> Write in 111 on Reader Service Card
<br />110 Law Enforcement Technology · July 2001
<br />
<br />business.
<br />With a
<br />PDA,
<br />you can just slip the device
<br />into your pocket.
<br /> The Santa Clara PD.uses
<br />a Symbol Palm CPT-1740,
<br />which is contained in a
<br />hard plastic case. "Officer.
<br />safety is our primary con-
<br />cern," Luebkeman says.
<br />"[Therefore] if an officer
<br />gets into an altercation, he
<br />doesn't have to consider that
<br />he'5 got a very expensive
<br />piece of equipment; he can
<br />just throw it on the ground."
<br /> While most handheld
<br />devices are not ruggedized,
<br />the price is right. With a
<br />price range from $249 to
<br />$499, they are a fraction of
<br />the cost of their bigger
<br />cousins. And even a hand-
<br />held Symbol or Casio
<br />device with built-in casing
<br />tops out at about $1,500.
<br /> Initially, software for
<br />Santa Clara's Symbol
<br />PDA was developed by
<br />Luebkeman in FileMaker
<br />Pro for evidence tracking.
<br />Like any other barcode sys-
<br />tem, the officers enter their
<br />evidence and it generates a
<br />label. But the unique part is
<br />that its location is stored in
<br />the database. When an offi-
<br />cer comes back in with his
<br />list to retrieve the evidence
<br />for court, the property clerk
<br />scans the list with a Palm
<br />device/barcode scanner. It
<br />
<br />syncs wirelessly with th{
<br />database and comes bac~
<br />with Web pages listing th{
<br />location of each piece. The~
<br />go right to the evidence an(
<br />check it out. "It speeds Ul;
<br />the whole process,'
<br />Luebkeman says.
<br /> In addition, Santa Clar,
<br />is just beginning to field tes~
<br />an application for traffic col-
<br />lision reports. In the field i~
<br />uses a magnetic stripe read.
<br />er to capture driver's license
<br />information and sends it tc
<br />the cruiser wirelessly on th~
<br />2.4-GHz band. (It can trans.
<br />mit data up to 1,000 feet.'
<br />The in-car computer serve,,
<br />as an interface to a Wet
<br />server. Information is sent t(
<br />a FileMaker Pro databas(
<br />and the data is sent back o]
<br />a tiny Web page that wa
<br />designed by Luebkeman i~
<br />FileMaker Pro.
<br /> Luebkeman, who ha
<br />done research on man'
<br />portable devices over th
<br />years, notes he's ver
<br />pleased with the unit the
<br />chose. It's got a readabl
<br />screen, great battery life an
<br />it was well integrated, h
<br />notes. This one handhel
<br />"had all the jumbled pieces
<br />was tTying to put together
<br />he says, "It was love at fir
<br />sight."
<br /> A police officer i
<br />Washington, D.C., certain
<br />has gone beyond the call,
<br />duty just to incorporate
<br />
<br />
<br />
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