ALERT POLICE HAVE MORE TIME TO FIGHT CRIME

Police in College Station, Texas, are working out the bugs in the Advanced Law Enforcement Response Technology (ALERT) system. The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) decided to replace the multiple control panels and tactical switches usually found in police cars with a touch screen, mounted on the dashboard of a cruiser and linked to a PC mounted in the trunk. With one finger, officers can request information and program their vehicles. Although it takes officers 15 to 20 percent longer to electronically issue a citation or arrest report, the system will save time overall. Daily and weekly reports are generated electronically and almost instantly, which means officers no longer must sort tickets and compile incident reports.