Case Study: Santa Clara Police Department

Officers Cut Report Writing Time in Half While Increasing Speed and Accuracy

Roger Luebkeman, a police lieutenant for the Santa Clara Police Department, searched for years. The target of his search wasn’t a criminal or a felon, but a device that could automate accident and crime reports for his department. He went through many trial runs of various hand-helds, and acquired a drawer-full of devices that all had shortcomings.

When Lieutenant Luebkeman was introduced to a hand-held device with built-in wireless communications from Lowry Computer Products, he knew that this could be the "perfect" hand-held. Lowry’s team not only supplied the hardware and accessories, but also helped him develop an application called PDACop for his law enforcement officers.

"Officers now have a device that is very rugged, lightweight, has built-in wireless communications, and a magnetic-stripe attachment," said Lt. Luebkeman, "everything that was required for an officer on the street." Once the information is collected, it is uploaded to the PC in the patrol car via a wireless PCMCIA card inserted into the laptop.The PDACop software includes a crime report module, field interview, and traffic collision report. The wireless hand-held enables officers to collect victim, witness, and suspect information. It documents vehicles involved in accidents and also creates records of stolen property. Drop down selection lists help increase the speed and accuracy of data entry.

"The officers cut their time in half for writing up reports," said Lt. Luebkeman. "They were extremely pleased in the amount of paperwork that was cut, so they can go out and do their jobs. It also cut time spent by others entering information into a database to create reports and deciphering officers handwriting," he added.

Due to the nature of police work, the device has to be water-resistant during wet weather when accidents tend to happen, visible in the dark for nighttime crime or accident scenes, mobile up to several feet from the police car so officers can gather statements at the scene, and durable if dropped during a skirmish.

"My PDACop device has survived several falls and constant rattling in the saddlebag of my motorcycle," said Officer Randy Sheleman. "All the officers love it!"