Using the wireless network, more than 400 patrol officers in the consortium can access records management systems and county, state and federal databases. The officers can access secure information from one or more of the databases in a matter of seconds with a single query. Tracy Molfino of the Salinas Police Department. Now we have cross-jurisdictional communication, and the whole system is progressing in an appropriate fashion. The PacketCluster Patrol system uses wireless modems to link the consortium's 100-plus patrol cars to criminal and motor vehicle databases.
Officers can communicate with each other through the system.
It also provides the option of cross-referencing previous cases and arrests with variables including identification information, such as birthmarks and scars, and crime patterns in certain locations. An unexpected bonus is that officers can run registration checks on a vehicle to see if its license plates or registration tags have been reported stolen. With the high price of tags in California, that service is being used daily, Molfino said. The alliance has four members and will be adding eight more through a recently awarded federal grant from the Community Oriented Policing Services' Making Officer Redeployment Effective program. With its new members, the consortium plans to expand its wireless ability by integrating a geographic information system application.