See this blog post by Bill Schrier, Ten Years after the iPhone, why don’t we give Cops and Firefighters Smart Phones? in which he details all the types of things a smart phone can do for first responders.
It is a matter of record that without an issued smartphone, many first responders are using their own personal devices in work situations. And there are some potential issues with that — as Bill points out in his blog post.
I imagine that many governments don't want to spend the money and deal with the hassles of another device and personnel issues that come with it. However, there are huge productivity gains to be made and many new innovations to be discovered as people and organizations begin using these tools "officially" in the performance of their duties.
