Hold the chief accountable

Four officers were shot dead while working on paperwork at a local coffee shop in Parkland, Wash. News reports allege the shooting was premeditated by one or more perpetrators.

It is difficult for anyone to concentrate on one's surroundings while writing on a computer. That this crime was premeditated indicates the officers regularly compromised their safety.

The department and police chief should be held accountable for their parts in this tragedy.

As a journalist and former law enforcement officer, I saw this coming. I wrote about it nearly two years ago when Sedona, Ariz's police department initiated a laptop program.

Click through to read my story.


Sedona's top cop seeks mobile laptops

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, Jan. 8, 2008 -- The Sedona Police Department is seeking City Council approval for about $190,000 to purchase 30 new laptops and related equipment for its patrol cars.

The request is scheduled for possible approval at the council's Tuesday, Jan. 13 meeting. If the item stays on the consent agenda, it would be approved without discussion.

The plan for purchasing this system would improve public and officer safety in Sedona through immediate access to tactical information for use in problem solving with a community policing philosophy, according to Sedona Police Chief Joe Vernier in a January 7 email interview.

"A mantra that we commonly hear and read about is, 'Information is the lifeblood of policing,'"? he said.

The Sedona Police Department received at least three bids for the program. CLH International, Inc. bid $201,487. Denver-based Portable Computer Systems bid $204,091.

Mr. Vernier has recommended the City Council approve Phoenix-based Mobile Concepts Technology bid for $190,077.

The program was approved in the city's Fiscal Year 2008/2009 city budget.

The city will be reimbursed for the cost through a $561,180.00 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice the police department received in 2008, according to a staff report.

Hidden costs?

While researching for this article, an unexpected potential cost surfaced.

Many police departments pay officers extra for special training and certification in programs such as drug recognition, canine handling, and Special Weapons and Tactics.

In Massachusetts, some departments pay officers extra for advanced technological skills and the associated duties.

A heated community debated followed when officers in Framingham, Mass. tried to get extra pay for using a laptop program similar to the one proposed by the Sedona Police Department.

The Sedona Police Department's current position is that computer training and skills are a routine officer function, according to Mr. Vernier.

"This is no different than any other training we do such as firearms qualification, etc.," he said.

The police department uses New World Systems technology similar to one featured in a company informational video, Mr. Vernier said.

"Officers are already trained on most aspects of the New World System. It is currently installed on our network and officers use it to do reports, search calls for history files, view calls for service, etc. The biggest change will be that officers can get their information and file reports in the field instead of having to come into the police station," Mr. Vernier said.

Sedona officers will be trained on the laptop aspects of using the system.

"We will also have to train and certify officers to access the national and state databases. If this is beyond the officers regularly scheduled shift, then we pay overtime. Since we have to staff 24/7, overtime training costs are planned for and budgeted," Mr. Vernier said.

We asked if the current purchase request is part of a larger plan for a proposed Regional Dispatch Center.

"The system was pursued well before regional dispatching was proposed. We will implement the system even if regional dispatching does not occur. The system can support regional dispatching if that happens. We also plan to work to access other local and [national] databases; and share ours with these agencies," Mr. Vernier said.

We asked if the program will change the role of dispatchers, since officers will have instant access to information.

"The basic role of dispatchers will not change," he said. "There will be less air traffic on routine or non-priority matters which will save dispatchers time to multi-task in other areas."

Officers and dispatchers can share information via instant messaging that they may not want heard through scanners, he said, and critical safety information and priority emergency calls will still be aired so all units will hear it, he said.

The officers will have the information on the laptops in their cars which should help reduce repeat requests for the same information if the officer's attention was diverted, or couldn't hear parts of the radio transmission, Mr. Vernier said.

If officers get a 'hit' on their laptop for, say, a wanted suspect or vehicle, dispatchers will still have to call the originating agency to confirm warrants and extradition, Mr. Vernier said.

Dispatchers will also still perform duties such as clearing out recovered stolen items and warrants that have been served, he said.


Laptops pose some safety concerns

Public safety and officer safety are important concerns to any police department.

Drivers in general can be distracted by anything from a car radio to cell phones. In recent years the term 'distracted drivers' has become common with U.S. policy makers.

An article in a December 2007 publication by the National Conference of State Legislatures stated:

"An emerging trend in state legislation is to address multiple distracting behaviors not only cell phone use on the road.

"In 2007, legislators in nine states considered new laws to prohibit a broad range of potential distractions, including reading, writing, attending to pets, watching television and other activities.

"Washington lawmakers passed a broad distraction bill that included a provision that made it the first state to specifically prohibit text messaging while driving. Four other states considered similar legislation."

At the 2008 Governors Highway Safety Association's annual conference in Scottsdale, Ann McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said there is consistent and compelling evidence that distracted driving increases the risk of accidents, according to a Sept.10, 2008 article in The Arizona Republic.

The GHSA Distracted Driving Policy states "when on the road, all drivers should not text message, use cell phones or other electronic devices, faxes, computers or other distracting devices except to report a crash to emergency responders. If a driver must use such devices to make a call or report a crash, the driver should first stop in a parking lot or other protected area."

Arizona law only specifically prohibits school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving.

Arizona Revised Statute 28-963 prohibits television screens in vehicles that are any point forward of the back of the driver's seat; and visible, directly or indirectly, to the driver while operating the motor vehicle.

Police computers are not televisions, but they are mounted in the front-seat area of the patrol vehicle.

We asked Mr. Vernier about the Sedona Police Department's policy on using the laptops while driving.

SPD is still developing a policy based on models from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and other agencies. Most of the policies are safety-based; and restrict typing while driving, he said.

"They also clearly state that officers are ultimately responsible for the safe operation of their vehicle irrespective of any system they are using while driving, e.g., radar, in-car video, radio, lights, siren, etc," he said.

Field work poses some officer-safety concerns

Vehicle laptops will keep more officers in the field instead of in an office writing reports, according to the Sedona Police Department's staff report.

But even if Sedona officers pull off the road to type up reports, they run the risk of being distracted from what is going on around them.

Officer Mark Anthony Sawyers of the Sterling Heights, Mich. police department died in 2004 from gunshot wounds he suffered while sitting in his patrol car writing up an accident report.

We asked what safety measures Sedona officers take while writing reports in the field.

"Officers write summons, field notes, interviews, etc., in the field. The difference here is that we will be putting this into a computer instead of paper in most cases. Staying alert and vigilant to ever changing conditions and situations around us is the predominant safety measure we take.

"This is referred to in public safety as, 'Situational Awareness.' Some steps can be as simple as backing your car into an area where someone can't surprise you from behind," Mr. Vernier said.

Copyright 2008. Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, reprinted or redistributed without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.