At the recent 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting, Inspector Nilda Hofmann announced that officers of the 52nd Precinct had received their NYPD-issued mobile phones and tablets intended to aid them in their fight against crime.

The gadgets were given out earlier in December to the Five-Two as part of an initiative by Commissioner Bill Bratton that was funded by the New York City Council. Under Bratton, every precinct in the city will have equipped its officers with a phone or tablet. Previously, high ranking NYPD officials, commanding officers, and some squad supervisors were assigned an NYPD-issued phone.

“You can reach an officer on the phone and it’s going to be their personal phone,” said Hofmann. She went on to add that “sometimes it’s very difficult for the officer to give out their personal phone number, but now they have a Police Department number [where you can reach them].”

Every NYPD officer will have a phone and every squad car will have a tablet. Cops will also be given an email address to give out.

The phones feature apps linked to NYPD databases which offer access to an individual’s arrest history, police reports, wanted photos, filed orders of protection, and videos from the Police Department’s public information office. Apps will also help identify what residences house felons wanted for a crime.

A recent example of the phones in action came when a home invasion had been reported after the phones were issued and after speaking to the victim, officers found out the victim had served time and had been burglarized a few months prior, proving the efficacy of the phones in actual policing situations where cops otherwise would be blind.

Access to all of that information allows patrol officers easier availability to tools necessary to do their jobs efficiently, instead of calling in to their stationhouse. The phones and tablets were provided by Lumia, with AT&T serving as its carrier.

Each phone is GPS-enabled, multi-password protected with an NYPD ID code for each officer to stymie theft. And if officers were to lose their phones, a notification would be made.

Hofmann noted that the Police Department will eventually equip patrol cars with a printer, to easily produce police reports, such as those for car accidents, on the streets.