The Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police force has finally gone wireless. A new system, installed in the forces fourteen patrol cars, allows officers to download video from their vehicles directly to police headquarters, without having to first connect with an Ethernet cable.
Hard drives currently installed in patrol cars can store up to 24 hours of video at a time. In the past the problem was getting that video onto computers in police headquarters. It meant that the police cars had to first connect the cables, and then remain stationary while the video was uploading. Since it took five to seven minutes to download an hour of video, could take about two hours.
Then Police officers had to hope that the cables themselves were not run over by street cleaners and even other patrol cars. Though the entire procedure was not too difficult, it was annoying enough that many officers simply avoided downloading their video footage.
This has been corrected by the new system, which enables officers to download their footage with a simple flip of the button. The process is slightly faster, and there is no danger of the cables being torn by another vehicle.
Network administrator John Zore spoke highly of the new system, saying that the information needed is “more readily at our fingertips now.” Though the system cost the Department $23,000, It is a reasonable price to pay for greater efficiency.
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