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Cops Now Getting Key Data While On The Go

Los Angeles County is the latest agency to adopt technology that allows officers to check mug shot photos from a handheld PDA.

LOS ANGELES -- Cops in Los Angeles County joined a growing list of police agencies to implement technology that allows officers to identify suspects through mug shots without requiring the officer to drive back to the office.

Officers in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have been equipped with ImageWare PDAs that the officers use to help identify suspects who give false names and those with outstanding warrants. The department joins several law enforcement agencies, including agencies in New York, San Antonio, Las Vegas and Stanislaus County that have adopted PDA technology.

The officers can search a digital booking database when running an identity check to make sure the person is who he says he is. The database can contain as many as 50,000 records, which can be stored on the handheld.

The software, called Crime Web Lite, can be installed on laptops in patrol cars, giving officers wireless access to databases that include registered sex offenders, local Alzheimer's patients and other digital bookings.

The digital booking database software starts at around $30,000 to $40,000, depending on the number of officers using the system. PDA licensing fees are $100 per handheld.