September 03, 2009|By Justin Fenton | Justin Fenton,justin.fenton@baltsun.com
The Baltimore Police Department plans to equip more than 2,000 officers with sophisticated smart phones allowing them to check warrants, retrieve driver's license photos and conduct background checks on hand-held devices, an initiative designed to get police out of patrol cars and walking the beat.
The city Board of Estimates approved on Tuesday spending $3.5 million in federal stimulus money on the new technology, expected to be in place by the end of the year. City Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III called it the most extensive program of its kind in the country.
In the next few months, nearly all of the department's patrol officers will receive BlackBerrys equipped with an application called PocketCop, which allows for rapid access to critical databases.
The phones' built-in GPS function will also let the department track movements and deployment patterns of police, a feature that is making some officers wary.
Bealefeld said that the previous generation of technological advances "made the vehicle a mobile office, except now [officers] don't leave the office." The smart phones "will help break that tether," he said, allowing police to carry vital information "right on their belt."
Smart-phone technology tailored for police is gaining popularity, with law enforcement agencies from Soldotna, Alaska - which won an award this year for its effort - to the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office putting it to use. But city officials believe the Baltimore initiative appears to be the most far-reaching of its kind.
Bealefeld said the program will be "cost effective," but it is unclear how the cash-strapped department will pay for the phones beyond next year. The stimulus money is a one-time infusion, and the initiative will significantly expand the number of officers with department-issued phones.
Bealefeld acknowledged that many officers will likely use the phones for personal calls and to send text messages, though he said the department would seek to limit such uses. The city will also have to hire a technical specialist to oversee the rollout.
The program has been a top priority for Bealefeld, who grew up listening to stories from his grandfather, an officer who patrolled on foot for 25 years around Greenmount Avenue, and he has often emphasized a desire to increase interaction between residents and officers, who often complain that they are already stretched too thin to handle the incessant stream of 911 calls.
The Police Department gave out 80 software-loaded phones in the Western District for a three-month trial earlier this year and said those officers appeared to be more productive, making more arrests and serving more outstanding warrants.
Lt. Ian Dombroski and Sgt. Shawn Edwards, detectives assigned to the department's Violent Crimes Impact Division, said they've been using the phones since last year. By using the phones, they said, police questioning a suspect can instantly pull a photograph from the Motor Vehicle Administration, calling his bluff if he gives a fake name. "In the past, we'd get a description from the dispatcher, and you might never know if the person you're dealing with was a criminal or a regular citizen," Dombroski said.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the new phones could be the ability to track officers. Robert F. Cherry, the president of the city police union, said on at least one occasion during the trial, commanders pulled up GPS data from the officers' phones after a shooting to determine where they were in the moments before the shots were fired.
"They said the officers weren't in the area, but does that mean they weren't doing their jobs?" said Cherry, who also questioned whether the devices would deliver the benefits Bealefeld believes they will.
"The PocketCop has the potential to be a good tool, but it's not going to get an officer out of the car," Cherry said. "They'll get out of the car because they're well paid and have the support of the police commissioner and the mayor."
The GPS records could also become a target for defense attorneys, who have increasingly used technological advances like surveillance cameras to scrutinize officers' accounts.
Bealefeld said he's excited about the GPS tracking capability, because it should give the department the most precise tool to date for studying the effectiveness of deployment patterns. In fact, during the Western District trial, the GPS devices were set to refresh their location so often that it drained the battery life, leading the department to upgrade to a stronger, 10-hour battery.
He also noted that the location of an officer who calls for a Signal 13, or an officer in distress, can also be quickly pinpointed.
