This reduces the time officers spend in police facilities and increases time spent in the community. As telecommunications technologies improve, the two-way radio may become obsolete except as a tool for priority traffic. Information once transmitted via radio can be transmitted via computer on a secure digital cellular frequency. Police communications personnel can dispatch officers, provide updated information on calls, and monitor the status of patrol units without touching a conventional radio. Officers in the field can receive calls for service, perform background checks, and complete reports without tying up a radio channel.
Supervisors can monitor the status of all the units in their patrol area at the touch of a button.
Personnel needing to use their two-way radio for a priority transmission may do so without having to wait for another unit to report on the status of a barking dog complaint. A paperless department could significantly increase the operating efficiency of a department covering a large jurisdiction with few officers. Field personnel would no longer have to travel out of their patrol zone to drop off paperwork at the end of their shift. It would no longer take hours or days for a report to make its way from a field officer to the records division. Officers working in the most remote recesses of an agency's jurisdiction can quickly and easily submit reports.