NCJ Number
138933
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 59 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 29-30,32,34
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Due to a newly formed, permanent, interdepartmental auto theft task force equipped with portable mobile data terminals (MDT's), auto theft is decreasing in the counties of Essex and Union, New Jersey.
Abstract
During the first 5 months of task force operation, 26 police officers assigned full-time recovered 160 vehicles worth $1.5 million and arrested 80 adult auto theft suspects and 101 juvenile suspects. The idea of a special task force to deal with auto theft is not new. What is innovative in New Jersey, however, involves the formation of a permanent task force drawn from State, county, and local agencies; the fact that police officers on the task force are assigned full-time; the selection of portable MDT's as the task force's main weapon; and the use of confiscated funds to buy the MDT network. Task force records indicate that police officers get an answer in just 20-22 seconds when they use the MDT in their patrol vehicles to run a check on an out- of-state driver's license, vehicle identification number, or license plate. Although initial reluctance to use MDT's has been encountered, participating police departments have become more convinced of the system's merit for daily police work and specialized functions as they use MDT's for normal police operations such as patrol duties. Further, training task force members in the use of MDT's has been relatively simple. Besides its promising results in stemming auto thefts, the task force has benefited eastern New Jersey residents in another way, by providing increased police presence and protection in high-crime neighborhoods.