Laptops in police cars increase productivity
Computers installed in marked, unmarked boro police vehicles
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

MICHAEL ACKER Sayreville Police Sgt. Peter Skarzynski demonstrates how police will use new laptop computers installed in a number of patrol cars, at a press conference last week. Officials are using state grant money to purchase 13 laptops for patrol officers, and hope to increase the number of laptops for patrol units in the future.

SAYREVILLE - More than a dozen laptop computers have been installed in borough police vehicles, and they are already increasing productivity on the police force.

Some 13 CF-29 Panasonic laptops and 18 mounting units were recently installed in various marked and unmarked police vehicles, officials said during a press conference held last week at police headquarters. The event included a demonstration on how officers will use the computers to access information that would have taken longer to retrieve using traditional means.

Since the computers, purchased mostly with grant funding, were installed in December, the number of arrests, motor vehicle stops and calls for service has increased significantly compared to the same months in 2005, according to Sayreville Police Sgt. Peter Skarzynski. The number of arrests made in December 2005 was 52, compared to 95 this past December.

Skarzynski said the laptops allow officers to file reports while they are on patrol and concentrate more on responding to calls. The information that the new laptops make available to officers allows them to keep the radio clear for dispatchers to focus on officer safety and emergency phone calls, he said. It also allows borough police to share information with police in neighboring Old Bridge.

The computers use a wireless information system called INFO Cop, which police use to access vehicle or warrant information. They also use report-writing software known as QED (Queues Enforth Development), which allows police access to data on prior incidents in the borough.

The time that the laptops will afford to police will allow for more efficient work shifts and a decrease in overtime costs, Skarzynski said.

State Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and members of the Sayreville Borough Council said the $115,000 project is being funded in part by a $100,000 state grant. The balance of the cost is being financed through the seizure of money acquired from narcotics arrests and environmental crime cases, according to a press release provided by Wisniewski's office.

"These new laptops, along with the INFO Cop and QED software, will quickly provide police officers with the information they need to do their jobs more safely and efficiently than ever before," Wisniewski said.

Borough Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand told the Suburban that an additional $8,000 to $10,000 is being provided in the form of a Safe Corridors grant from the state.

"We did this creatively," Bertrand said, "linking different grant programs and reimbursement items to not affect the taxpayer."

Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O'Brien told the Suburban that quality and cost considerations postponed the purchase of the laptops until recently.

"We were waiting a number of years for the quality to increase and the price to decrease," O'Brien said. "It finally got to a point where we were comfortable with the quality of the machine [and] the ruggedness, and it was at an acceptable price point."

Councilman Dennis Grobelny credited the Public Safety Committee, to which he is the council liaison, along with police officials and Wisniewski for working to secure funding for the project. He said the technology was "a long time coming," and will increase police performance and safety.

"The new laptops are an example of how the right technology can enhance municipal operations and benefit the residents of Sayreville," Grobelny said.

Several other area municipalities, including Old Bridge, Perth Amboy and South River, are now using the Panasonic laptops, according to an area sales manager for the corporation.