Since 1984, St. Petersburg has purchased 460 portable computers in order to equip all uniformed field officers. Ninety percent of those officers report that the computers reduce the time it takes to write reports and make report writing easier. Additionally, the St. Petersburg Police Department has begun to put cellular telephones in its patrol cars, thus enabling direct communications with 90 percent of the homes and nearly all businesses in the community. This high technology equipment is expensive: each computer costs approximately $390 and each cellular telephone costs $1,000, plus monthly service and maintenance fees. However, the purchases are cost effective because they enable officers to save time on paperwork and communication task and to focus their energies on policework. The money used to purchase the computers and cellular telephones was captured from drug dealers or collected from the sale of stolen property. Thus, the purchases enabling officers to better fight crime were paid for by money seized from criminals. Several programs are being developed to apply the computer and telephone technology to other areas of police work. One of these programs is the St. Petersburg Accident Data Acceleration System (SPADAS), allowing for more efficient collection and processing of information about automobile accidents. See NCJ-111355-111364.