Technology

The next time you have an opportunity, look into a police car. You’ll notice a computer screen on the dashboard. This in-car computer is known as an MDC (Mobile Digital Computer). MDC’S have touch screens with big, easy to see icons so that we don’t have to peck around on a keyboard. When calls for service come in, an officer needs only to look at his/her computer screen to obtain the information needed to handle an incident.

Here at the Chula Vista P.D., we can enter an address on our MDC and a detailed map will show us where we need to go. We anticipate that in the near future a GPS (Global Positioning System) will also give us a route to our destination from our present location, as well as verbal directions.

In the meantime, the MDC allows us to check license plates to determine if a car is stolen or if it’s properly registered. We can also check personal information (name, date of birth) to find out if someone has a valid license or to determine if a person is on probation, parole or wanted for any crime. We can even communicate from car to car or to the station by instant message or e-mail.

Our “Street Team”, which is a group of officers assigned to handle gang related crime and assist detectives with crime trends in the city, has PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant) that allow them access to all of the information available in the in-car MDC. They carry these (Palm Pilots) in their shirt pockets when they patrol on bikes or on foot and do not have a car immediately available to them.

We have site-specific internet access, which is really helpful with field investigations. For instance, we can check the Megan’s Law website for information on sex registrants who may be out of compliance. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to pull up a site that listed all of the Chula Vista Municipal Codes in order to issue a citation to someone who had built a makeshift barbeque in an area that caused a fire hazard. A year ago, I would’ve had to call the police station or fire station to have someone research the information for me.

When you think about it, the police car is our office and we conduct our daily business out of it. But just like any other modern business, if our computer malfunctions, we have to do things the old fashioned way. Today, the computer network malfunctioned during the first couple of hours of the shift and we were back to doing things the way we used to, by listening to the dispatcher and writing the information in our notebooks.

It was frustrating, but a reminder of how far police technology has come in the past decade. When I first started out in the early 90’s, only a limited amount of police departments had MDC’s and they were very primitive. So, at that time most officers had a pad of paper clipped to the dashboard and wrote down all of the information as it came in over the radio. They’d then have to check a map, figure out where the destination was, and away they went. This is how it was done for decades before the MDC came along.

Back then, the cars didn’t even have center consoles because the old Ford Crown Victoria’s (and later Chevrolet Caprice) had bench seats in the front. Even the car technology has come a long way. I used to suffer in the summer because, when you stepped on the gas, the air conditioner in these cars would blow warm air. One thing that I do miss is the way the cage (the barrier behind the driver that separated the officer from the prisoner) was situated. I used to be able to fit a 32-ounce soda over my left shoulder. The cup would fit perfectly between the cage and the frame (near the seatbelt shoulder strap) of the car. With a long straw, I didn’t even have to grab the cup to get a drink. All I had to do was turn my head to the left and take a sip. Good times.

Speaking of technology, the bulletproof vests that we had back then were also extremely uncomfortable. They didn’t flex at all. I would chase suspects and not be able to expand my chest to take a deep breath. The vest that I have now is so flexible that I can actually roll it up, and it still has twice the stopping power of the old vests. The “disadvantage” is that I have to stay fit...In the old days, I could put on a few pounds and the vests were so rigid that they would also double as a girdle and I would still look presentable in my uniform. These days, the vests are so flexible that just a few extra pounds make me look like a sack of potatoes…but I digress.

So you can see how the technology that we have now allows us to work in a much more comfortable environment and allows us to gain information at the touch of a button…or should I say icon? My, how times have changed.

Heroism?

A couple of nights ago, I was sent to a traffic accident where both drivers were arguing about the collision. I was the first officer on scene and, when I got there, there were about 5 family members of one driver surrounding the driver of the other vehicle. It seemed like they were trying to intimidate the second driver. I walked up to the small crowd and immediately separated everyone. Once the other officers arrived, we went on with our business of taking a collision report (and ultimately, making an arrest for DUI).

After we finished our business, I was walking back to my car and the wife of the driver who was surrounded thanked me for arriving so quickly. She also said, “You’re so brave to walk up to a group of people like that.” I thought it was odd that she thought I was going out of my way, but I replied, “No problem” and went on with my business.

I’ve now had a couple of days to think about that lady’s comment and it really re-enforces the fact that we (police officers and firefighters also) deal with the most traumatic incidents in a person’s life. Think about it. Most people rarely deal with conflict, yet police officers encounter conflict on a daily basis. We are experts at diffusing potential volatile situations and know when and when not to use force.

That lady has probably had 1 or 2 minor traffic collisions in her entire life. She probably has never been in a situation where someone was trying to intimidate her or a family member. In fact, she’s probably going to remember that incident for the rest of her life. For most people, an experience like that would be the climax of their day, but for police officers, it’s just another in hundreds of similar incidents we work through in a career.

So, maybe it does look like an act of heroism when someone comes into the situation and takes control by separating everyone and getting down to the matter at hand, which in that case was trying to find out who was most at fault for the collision and documenting it. In any case, diffusing a situation is something that I’ve done hundreds of times during my career and it really was second nature to me and the other officers who were there.

Were we heroes that night? Not in my mind. We were just doing what we’ve been trained and get paid to do. The term “hero” should be reserved for people (sworn or civilian) that go above and beyond what is required – the officers - who, without giving it a second thought, run into a burning building to save someone, or pull a victim out of a burning car, or jump into a pool to save a drowning person; the neighbor who starts CPR and keeps the victim alive until the medical professionals arrive; or the neighbor who, without complaint, leaves his/her job and family to serve a military commitment.

Will the opportunity to become a hero ever present itself to most officers? Maybe, maybe not, but in the meantime we’re happy and committed to doing our jobs.

Thanks for participating.