SF police get ‘Bat Computer’

A new computer database reads license plates and inputs reports with the touch of a button, creating an extensive catalogue of crime data

June 28, 2012 07:24 AM

Enter a Driver’s License number or last name and a screen of up-to-the-minute data appears.

By Police1 Staff

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police will be using a new tablet app that lets officers scan plates, upload photos, dictate reports and pin locations in real-time to better predict where criminals are headed.

“This is the Bat Computer,” Police Chief Greg Suhr said.

Scan a license plate and all of the relevant data automatically goes in a case file that any officer with a tablet can access right away, according to BuzzFeed.

GovTech.com reported the speech-to-text technology built into the app will save as much as 90 percent of the time officers normally spend transcribing audio incident notes.

Created by ArcTouch with funds from SF.Citi, the database is out of its beta phase and will soon have facial recognition capabilities and a version for mobile phones.