possible Christmas present

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:39:45 GMT, George <George@nospam.invalid> wrote:

>Yes, I am currently involved in the backend of a police project. Not
>only is there a notebook arranged like your photo shows for license
>lookups etc but the car is fitted with 4 cameras that connect to a
>dedicated processor in the trunk which is networked to the notebook. The
>processor captures license plates even when the car is in motion and
>looks them up. If it finds something it alerts and puts a message on the
>notebook that for example the rear camera saw a red SUV with license
>XYZ-123 that is wanted for something.
>
>There is a central server at the police station. Every time a police
>cruiser gets in range of the wireless it offloads video to the server
>and also gets a refresh of wanted plates.

People are talking about banning texting and cell phone use while driving,
which would put a crimp in cops' workstyles. PCs at their elbows, using the
radio, and I've seen cops driving by talking on their cell phones. They
also use the notebooks for email, at least here. I got to my corner one
afternhoon (I'm a school crossing guard) and a police service tech was
there. After I assured him I was on duty, he popped into his car to check
his e-mail. He was supposed to be at the post two blocks down the street.
ONce when I was trying to reach my supervisor she was out of the station,
so they e-mailed her in her car. Now, I can't swear that that we have cops
and techs checking their e-mail while driving, but the potential is there.

Donald Albury