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Training Comes to the Patrol Car

NCJ Number
184839
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2000 Pages: 102-105
Author(s)
David Larson
Date Published
September 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Illinois State Police (ISP) uses an online training system to instruct patrol officers in the nature and use of criminal justice databases and mobile police computing.
Abstract
Laptop computers in patrol cars provide ISP and local agencies with a host of new advantages. With laptops, patrol officers run queries themselves, freeing up dispatchers to focus on more critical calls. This allows the Illinois criminal justice community to handle more calls and run more inquiries. Officers who use the in-car laptops need training in the use of these systems over the IWIN network. The use of online training permits training in any location across the State linked to IWIN, the ISP frame-relay network, or the Internet. Online training not only compresses the amount of time needed to present information, it can also make more efficient use of the same amount of training time by providing more complete coverage of the information. Further, it saves money, ensures consistency of training content and delivery, provides employees a ready reference system, and permits continuous updating of the curriculum. The online training uses text, graphics, drawings, sounds, animations, and simulations where appropriate. The curriculum ends with a 100-question test.