NYPD Sees Returns on Smartphone Investment

Image Source: Microsoft

NYPD’s mobility initiative, which gives patrol officers Windows smartphones, appears to be paying off for the city. New York Daily News reports that on one day, around 7,000 officers clicked on more than 29,000 911 alerts, ran 26,000 queries, filed 300 accident reports, and filled out 60 reports involving victims of crime or others needing assistance. Officers are using the phones to be dispatched (presumably through a CAD app) to incidents, prior to the incidents being dispatched over the radio, which has resulted in a 12.6% reduction in response times. Are smartphones the ideal solution when laptops would be impractical? NYPD seems to think so.