Source: Kena Betancur / Getty
The NYPD is ditching it’s 36,000 Windows Phone for a new crime-fighting tool the iPhone. Initially announced last year the NYPD is now rolling about 600 new iPhones a day to officers in Manhattan. Once every cop in the borough has their iPhone, Brooklyn will be up next followed by Queens.
According to the New York Daily News, the iPhone initiative officially kicked off right before Christmas and the officers will have a choice between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Despite not getting the latest versions of Apple’s popular smartphone line the iPhone 8 or iPhone X, police officers are still excited to get their hands on the device according to NYPD Deputy IT Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The NYPD decided to use Windows Phones when they began using Microsoft software for a video surveillance program back in 2016. As time went along they felt it was time for a much-needed upgrade due to Microsoft no longer supporting the Windows Phones making the officers’Lumia phones very outdated. Smartphones have become a very key tool in helping the NYPD fight crime. Thanks to the 911 app officers are able to get dispatches before they are announced over the radio. Response times to ongoing crimes have dropped by 14% according to Tisch.
With their new iPhones, officers will also now be able to file accident reports, fill out summonses, aided cards, and domestic violence reports. The iPhones will also allow cops to quickly get surveillance photos and videos of Wanted suspects minutes after a crime is committed. This will also allow them to blast out the photos and videos in real time and will be geofenced only going to cops in specific neighborhoods whether they are on or off-duty.
The iPhones will also supply officers with plenty of information while responding to jobs automatically providing them info like the criminal history of the location, how many 911 calls originated from that address in the past and what type.Most importantly it will also prioritize certain information, for example, it is a situation dealing with a mentally disturbed person that information will show up first in the details.
Now for the 36,000 old Window Phones, they will not just be chucked into cell phone purgatory. They will be wiped and resold back to the company. The NYPD won’t be paying a dime either for the new iPhone 7’s because it’s considered an upgrade under their contract with AT&T.
Let’s just hope these phones also help cops stop being so damn trigger happy as well.
Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
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