CHARLESTON, S.C. --- Police officers filing reports from their cruisers. Computers matching similarities among crimes. Wireless cameras monitoring the streets. A Web site alerting residents to crimes in their neighborhoods.
These are just a few of the innovations Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen hopes to bring to his department by year's end. The city council already has approved money to fund some of the initiatives, and more plans are in the works.
Since taking the job in late 2006, Chief Mullen has made it a priority to improve the department's technological and analytical capabilities. The goal, he said, is to make the department more efficient, target resources where they are needed most and ensure officers on the street have timely access to the information they need to do their jobs.
"Technology is an accelerator for the other things we are doing," he said. "It saves so much time and really increases the efficiency of what we're doing. ... It opens up a huge amount of opportunities for us."
For years, the Charleston Police Department had lagged behind some other area agencies in incorporating cutting-edge technology into its arsenal. North Charleston police were using computers to track reports, analyze data and map crime trends five years ago. Mount Pleasant police soon followed suit.
But Charleston officers were writing reports in longhand on carbon paper and tracking homicide cases in a vintage ledger book. Until recently, the department didn't even have voice mail.
That's all changing now.
The Charleston City Council recently approved $2.4 million to upgrade a 15-year-old computer-aided dispatch and records management center for the police and fire departments. Officers on the street will be able to enter reports and receive crime alerts, suspect photos and other key information, Chief Mullen said.
Mayor Joe Riley said it will make for a more effective police force.
"They are on the street while they're doing this, so we don't lose their presence, their visibility," Mr. Riley said.
Crime analysts already are using computer software to identify and map trends, patterns and hot spots of activity throughout the city. The new system can sort through reports to search for similarities among crimes and the people involved, Chief Mullen said.
Police also are moving ahead with plans to purchase and install video surveillance cameras in high-crime areas to monitor public spaces for signs of trouble. Police hope to take advantage of wireless technology to allow the cameras to be moved around the city.
Chief Mullen shepherded a similar video surveillance program as a police commander in Virginia Beach, Va. Police in that city have made great use of technology over the years, including an interactive Web site that allows residents to research crime data.
Chief Mullen said he hopes Charleston residents will have that same ability by year's end.
Robert Kaminski, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina, said many police departments across the country have already employed the same methods.
The movement grew from New York City's successful Comstat (short for computer statistics) program, started in the mid-1990s and credited with helping reduce crime in the Big Apple, he said.
TECHNOLOGY PRIORITIES
Since taking over as Charleston's police chief, Greg Mullen has made it one of his priorities to update his department's technology.
THE LATEST: The Charleston City Council has approved $2.4 million to upgrade a 15-year-old computer-aided dispatch and records management center for the police and fire departments.
HOW WILL IT HELP? The upgrade will help police better track and analyze information that can then be sent quickly to officers in the field via computers in their cruisers.
OTHER PLANS: Purchase and install video surveillance cameras in high-crime areas; upgrade Web site to allow people to view crime information by neighborhood and street
-- Associated Press
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