Last year, Panasonic UK reported that Herefordshire Police had embraced the Toughpad FZ-G1 as a partner in crime (busting). The fully rugged touchscreen tablet with Windows 8 Pro was set up in their Vauxhall Astra police cars in such a way that it could be used on the move or docked into the glove box.
The Hertfordshire Constabulary was the first force to use the groundbreaking technology, with one tablet basically functioning as a completely mobile police station.
Sam Burrows, Panasonic Toughbook Emergency Services specialist, said: “Our emergency services need technology that is fast, simple and intuitive to use but at the same time built to stand up to the rigours of everyday life on the frontline. The Toughpad FZ-G1 is the perfect tablet to meet these needs and we are delighted that Vauxhall has included the technology at the heart of its latest Astra police vehicles.”
Here in Australia, Panasonic Toughbooks have long been an essential tool in police cars across the country. We spoke to Jason Lee, Product Marketing Manager for Toughbook, Panasonic Australia, about the important part Toughbooks play in Australia’s law and order and where he sees the technology taking the force in the future.
Aussie cops have been using Toughbooks in their cars for quite a long time. Why did that come about?
“For officers out on patrol, there is a need for communications within the vehicles to be always on. When those vehicles are out and the officers are on the road, it’s critical that the comms can never go down. In addition to that, there needs to be something to drive all of their actions and jobs back to a central point, creating the need for a mobile office,” Jason said.
“That’s where our rugged notebooks are such a perfect fit for the police force. To start with, they are incredibly reliable and able to meet the critical nature of the communications they need to have for safety. The Toughbooks are also powerful enough to replicate an office right there in the car, so there is no loss of function.”
Looking at the Hertfordshire trial with the Toughpad FZ-G1, it would seem that tablets are the way of the law enforcement future. Can you see Aussie police forces having a use for Toughpad tablets?
“Absolutely! As technology expands there is just so much you can do, and Australian police forces are great at leveraging new technologies to improve their work-product outcomes. Just as with the Hertfordshire FZ-G1 tablets, if Australian police moved from Toughbooks to Toughpads they would find their current mobility would be increased tenfold. For example, with the tablet everything can be located in the front of the vehicle which is a lot more convenient than the larger notebooks currently mounted in the rear of the vehicle,” Jason said.
“Obviously that saves on a lot of cabling and installation but there’s an even greater benefit and that is that the device is no longer a fixed terminal: it can be taken out of the car and used in so many versatile ways that it would replace multiple devices. Plus, Toughpad tablets are powerful enough to run everything as well as the ruggedised notebooks currently used by the police, so I can only see benefits if they were to make the switch.
Read more about Toughpad and Herfordshire Police
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