NYPD arm themselves with a new tool, an Android app

 
The NYPD faces some of the hardest challenges in law-enforcement every single day, in order to keep our fair city safe. To make sure they have the best chances to stop crimes, they are outfitted with the best tools for the job. In this case, that’s an Android application.
 
The New York Police Department just started a new program that gives officers specific smartphones running on Android software. Over 400 of these smartphones have been entrusted to officers so far, giving them details and information from the NYPD databanks, much like laptops have in police cruisers for years. Information obtained from the phones include criminal records, vehicle registration, addresses and other information that has always been available to police. The app is particularly useful in New York City, where because of it’s dense population, more officers are likely to be on the beat without cars.
 
According to the New York Times, the information is easier to obtain than patrol-car laptops have been. Those laptops gain information from many different servers, accessing different departments, where the app is done all in one place. This makes finding information, and accessing that information even faster and more efficient for officiers.
 
The application is being used as a trial-run at the moment, if it passes all inspections and works more efficiently, they might replace laptops all together.
 
more info: nyt