An LA Sheriff was present at the 2012 CES in Las Vegas showing off some hot new technology that is being deployed in his department. The new technology highlighted in the two videos is centered around the Toughbook 31′s that are going to be inside of the police vehicle. In addition to the notebook inside the vehicle, the officers will be taking advantage of a small mobile fingerprint scanner that connects to the Toughbook inside the vehicle via Bluetooth.

The technology that is currently being used in the majority of the patrol cars is the same technology that was deployed in 1989. The Toughbook 31′s that they are upgrading to come with a number of advantages over the current terminals that are installed in their vehicle, including an advanced mapping system. The mapping system not only gives the officers a naviation system, but also allows them to see where other sister car units are, in real time, which previously had to be done through communication with a helicopter unit. The mapping system also allows the officers to geotag specific locations during a vehicle chase when they believe that the suspect has thrown some type of evidence out of their vehicle in order to avoid being charged with it’s possession. This is very helpful when the officers are later trying to find this tossed evidence because it helps to shrink the area that they need to perform their search within.

In addition to the new mapping technologies, the officers are being given a mobile fingerprint scanning device, which officers to verify the identity of individuals without having to bring them into the station. In the event that the officer has a legal reason to detain a suspect, the officer can scan the individuals fingerprint with the device, and then send that fingerprint to the Toughbook within the vehicle. If the individual has been arrested before, their fingerprint will be matched with a record in the database and the officer will be given information about the individual, including a photograph!