The use of the MDT's will vary from agency to agency. In the greater Washington DC region
as some people call it CAPITAL REGION, much of the dispatching is done via the MDT. After
the call is sent, you will hear various voice coms over the radio. Even the region fire agencies
are using their MDT systems more and more. It cuts down on the on air chatter by a bunch.
Even a number of state police agencies are using their MDT systems for regular checks. This
off loads the dispatcher from having to spend so much time going back and forth over the
radio with this traffic.
You will see a slow migration of traffic from voice to the MDT systems over time. Not only
does it lower the voice clutter on busy radio channels, it does provide the foot soldier in
the field with faster, better and in many cases actual photos of the people they have
stopped. Makes trying to determine if you have the correct person if there is a warrant
out on the person you have stopped. In some cases you may not have the correct ID
from the person stopped. The MDT can even give the ability to even send finger prints and
get back an answer fairly fast. All depends on what hardware is in the vehicle.
Jim
I've heard about Police Departments/Sheriff's Offices having computers in their vehicles and getting their calls through that. I was just curious for anyone who knows of this in their area if it is indeed "silent." A little while ago our local EMS went to computers in the Ambulances. What happens when I listen is the Medic unit will acknowledge a call and then the dispatcher will verbally repeat the call the Medic unit acknowledged, therefore, it's not really "silent." Just wondering if anyone out there knows anything about this. I'm really guessing it depends on the agency. My local Police Department is heading in that direction and I'm just curious how much I'm going to miss.