Lauderdale County Sheriff Department’s deputies will now be able to file tickets and write reports electronically in their vehicles, rather than by hand, thanks to new technology. 

With a new Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system projected to be installed by late summer, the department used the Wireless Communications Fund, which had been previously earmarked for communications-related upgrades, to purchase approximately $134,000 worth of new technology for patrol cars.

For now, as the county and city finalize CAD installations, deputies will be able to file domestic violence reports, accident reports and tickets in their cars, streamlining the process and printing tickets from a printer inside the passenger seat headrest. 

“The first phase is just getting the hardware,” Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun said. “It’s going to make us more efficient.”

Calhoun said that the department’s IT manager, Josh Gressett, searched for, tested and evaluated the in-car technology, choosing from hundreds of choices on the market before settling on the final model. The final version has a tablet and keyboard mounted within the vehicle that can be programmed to make emergency calls at the touch of a button. 

The funding comes from the Wireless Communications Fund, or the Sheriff’s Digital Communications Fund, which pulls money from traffic violations to fund department upgrades. 

Calhoun said the project cost is being paid all from the fund, about $6,400 per car. The department plans to upgrade all 21 patrol cars this week. 

When CAD installation is complete, emergency dispatchers will be able to send “silent dispatches,” or dispatches to law enforcement officers with all of the information about the call attached. This way, Calhoun said, deputies won’t have to call back numerous times to verify addresses and confirm other information. 

“It reduces radio traffic and increases the reliability of the information,” Calhoun said. “The deputy will be able to simply touch the screen to say, ‘I’m in route.’ “

Additionally, when the deputy receives a call, new mapping software, part of the CAD update, will include information about previous calls to the address and correct address information by pulling from tax accessor office filings. 

“The system will plot it on a map and have everything incorporated into it,” Calhoun said. “The system will even know if there’s a bridge out and reroute.”