DEPUTIES TRY TIME-SAVING LAPTOPS.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Ventura County sheriff's patrols have a new weapon in their fight against crime - laptop computers.

A $60,000 pilot project launched this week will test whether the laptops cut time off report writing for deputies so they have more time for responding to calls. Those computerized reports are expected to help detectives improve case management and crime analysts spot trends sooner, officials said Friday.

``It's either going to save in the overtime that officers get paid or it's going to save time so they can get back into the field. That's the real impact,'' said Capt. Lary Reynolds, supervisor for the Sheriff's Department's Information Services Bureau.

Improving the use of existing patrols also could save on the need to hire more deputies to meet increased demands for service.

The department has 120 patrol units serving the county's unincorporated areas and the cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Ojai and Fillmore. The pilot project, which will run through January, includes units operating from the West County station in Ventura. The program eventually could be expanded throughout the department's service area.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Department is following the lead of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and police in the cities of Orange and Riverside.

``This system has been proven effective in allowing field personnel to more efficiently complete assignments and free up time for both patrol and community oriented policing efforts,'' said Capt. Bruce Hansen, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.

The laptop computers use a software program that allows deputies to complete as many as a dozen reports on a single crime without having to re-enter the same information each time. The software automatically includes the information where necessary on various reports or deputies can program report writing based on certain crimes, Reynolds explained.

``Right now, an officer will go out on a major case where you have a crime and evidence to collect, and add an arrest, you may have 11 to 20 reports to complete,'' he noted. ``On every one of those report forms, it requires the same information, at least a basic statement of what occurred.''

Laptops remain mounted on the center consoles of patrol cars. At the end of shifts, deputies take disks containing case data back to offices where they can finish reports on personal computers. The data remains in the personal computer network for use by detectives and crime analysts, Reynolds explained.

The system eventually is expected to be linked to information systems for the county jails and the courts.

``So it's going to ripple throughout the criminal justice system,'' Reynolds said.

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Photo

Photo: Deputy Robert Davidson demonstrates the laptop compu ter being used in the field to save time with report writing and to track crimes.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News