Some squad cars gain wireless access
System can allow officers to check security cameras before arriving
by EMILY BLOCK

Only two Iowa police departments are going wireless, but area law enforcement agencies are intrigued by the possibilities that come with squad cars equipped with untethered Internet.

The technology allows officers to access security cameras at financial institutions and other locations from their cars, checking into crimes or other potential problems in progress before arriving on the scene.

The Indianola Police Department partnered with RACOM, a telecommunications company headquartered in Marshalltown, Iowa, to create a prototype for the system that became operational in the south-central Iowa city in November.

"This opens a lot of doors," said Indianola Police Chief Steve Bonnett, who said the system has proven "critical" in ways he never imagined. "Now we're even e-mailing from the cars. The notes and memos around the office have basically stopped."

Last month, the Marshalltown Police Department became the second Iowa city to install the system, according to RACOM Vice President Mike Miller, who said his company is beginning to take verbal orders from a handful of other police agencies. Similar systems are being introduced in other parts of the nation.

The Dubuque and Asbury police departments and the Dubuque County Sheriff's Department are among those interested.

While the Dubuque Police Department will probably implement wireless at some point, officials have begun to research what it would cost and how it would benefit the department, which has 18 squad cars, Police Capt. Paula Gieseman said.

Gieseman said the technology could enhance safety for both officers and the public, especially when burglaries or robberies are in progress.

"If police come barging into some situations unprepared for what they're going to see, it has the potential to become a hostage situation," she said, adding that both police officers and the offenders could be caught off guard. "This would let us see what's happening beforehand so we can gauge our response better."

She said it would be "entirely up to the businesses" to decide whether they partner with the department.

"If they don't want to give us access to their signal, they don't have to," she said. "If they don't have a new enough system to work with this technology, they can't do it."

Miller said the biggest hurdle in the project, which began about a year ago, was perfecting the encryption to secure police data transmissions.

Installation and hardware, including modems for each of the five squad cars, cost about $15,000. Bonnett plans to add the wireless Internet capability to the department's remaining squad car this summer.

So far, Indianola police are linked to security cameras at two banks and have installed a camera in a squad car and a local skate park that has been a target of vandalism and drug problems, according to Bonnett. The police chief believes the system has already proven itself.

The officers recently saved themselves a trip to one of the financial institutions after a bank alarm sounded. The officers called up the bank's security camera from their cars and discovered that cleaning staff had triggered the alarm.

Copyright 2005 Telegraph Herald