Muskogee County Deputy Vehicles Get Laptops To Increase Efficiency

For years, Muskogee County Sheriff's deputies relied on radio dispatchers to find the location of a call or to see if someone had an arrest warrant.

The sheriff says that's because his agency is one of the last in the country to get mobile laptops in its patrol units.

In about a week, the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office will take delivery of four patrol vehicles. A 2015 Ford Police Interceptor is about to get some fresh striping and decals. Beyond the flashing lights and sirens are computer mounts.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson says budget restraints put the purchase of mobile laptops for deputies on the back burner for a long time.

“To continue operating our facility has increased greatly, one of the things that we've sacrificed is not being able to put computers in our cars..." Pearson said.

Pearson says federal grant funding has helped his office buy the laptops. At least six will be installed in the next few weeks.

“This is going to make this office operate a lot more efficiently,” he said.

Pearson says the mobile laptops will mean quicker deputy response time and help them find rural locations quicker.

“It's keeping up with the demand; it's keeping our deputies safe," Pearson said.

The Sheriff says his office has come a long way from the days of buying surplus equipment.

“When we came in, we were buying Corsicas at a government auction with about 75,000 miles on them," he said.

Pearson also says the new equipment will cut down on the workload for deputies when it comes time to fill out long reports, and also they'll be able to take the computers out and take pictures of investigations.