As other technologies and the Internet continue to develop, CDPD may be used to support a wide variety of other police applications. Real-time digital cameras could link an investigator in the field with experts around the world. A detective in a small town could link with a state arson investigator to receive instant assistance in processing a crime scene. Investigators in different countries could instantly share information as they track an international organized crime group or terrorist organization. Given the remarkable advances which have taken place in the past 15-20 years, it is hard to imagine the changes policing will undergo in the next two decades.
Police officers can conduct their own background checks and update incident records.
With CDPD systems, these functions can be performed quickly and without burdening a police dispatcher. A paperless department does not have to worry about illegible, lost, or incomplete reports. Paperwork can be completed in the field, printed out as needed, and transmitted to a department's main computer. Officers can spend time in the community rather than filing out mountains of repetitive paperwork at a police facility. There is no need to hire civilian personnel to type reports or direct reams of paper to their final destinations.