Police Set to Get Voter-Approved Rugged Tablets

The Board of Selectmen approved the purchase of new police cruiser tablets Monday, opting to go with a bid made by Solzon Corporation of Chelmsford, Mass.

For the price of $34,723.78, the police department will receive five Motion I3600 tablets for their marked cruisers and two more for the unmarked vehicles. The bid includes docking, mounting and installation.

Residents approved the expense by a 2,050-1,434 vote during Town Meeting in March.

Bids were opened in March, with GHA Technologies of Scottsdale, Ariz. also applying. A third vendor opted not to apply.

Police Chief Gerald Lewis said that the new tablets will offer a host of other functions that the current laptops in the police cars can't do.

He said the tablets will be removable by the officers so that they can utilize them in the field to take pictures, take them into a house or go into a crime scene van.

The tablets have fingerprint readers on the side for security purposes.

"We're on the front end of this by going this way," Lewis said of the technology.

The screen is made of gorilla glass, and Lewis said the product is highly rated in the industry to withstand water and dirt.

He said that other departments are using iPad's with the notion that if it breaks, they are $500 or $600 to just get another one, an approach that he doesn't agree with.

The seven tablets have a 3-year warranty with a 5-year life expectancy.

The purchase was originally approved as part of the Capital Improvement Plan as an upgrade to communications in the town's police vehicles, along with radios.