A Florence police officer identified a stolen pickup truck being driven by two teen-agers within an hour of getting an on-board computer in his cruiser.

        On his first night out on patrol with one of the laptop computers, Officer Joe Maier used it Wednesday to run a license plate on a 1992 Dodge Dakota on Dream Street. The car came back as having been stolen on March 17 from Covington. The two 16-year-olds who were in the pickup are facing charges of receiving stolen property.

        “It goes to show you how the technology has already started to pay off for us,” said Florence police spokesman Lt. Tim Chesser. “We got it in one car, and we already got a stolen car within an hour of being on duty.”

        The $3.5 million to pay for 134 laptop computers for police cruisers for Boone County, Walton and Florence police and the sheriff's department is coming from monthly 911 taxes on telephone bills in the county.

        The laptops and modems for cruisers allow officers to run a driver's registration, for example, as well as to write arrest or incident reports and electronically transmit them to a central location. This will create an automated paperless records system, said Boone police Capt. Jack Prindle.

        The computers will reduce the number of calls through the county emergency dispatch center, freeing up operators to take emergency calls from residents, said Boone Administrator James Parsons. In the past, a lot of the calls to the dispatch center have been officers wanting records checks.

        “The nice thing about these are that it allows the officer instant access to the state database,” said Florence police Assistant Chief Tom Szurlinski. “In the past, sometimes officers had to wait in line for the dispatchers to enter that in the database.”

Retirement community could rise at site of fire
Builder betting on old-time style as newest trend
Crimes troubling Miami U.
Levee unfolds; excitement grows
60 years later, they're still going off to war
Killer's transfer request denied
N. Ky. abstinence program not expected to affect many
As NKU budget hits record, Votruba urges fiscal restraint
Panels to tell pair of stories
Baby sitter admits to molestation
Bill would add Butler juvenile judge
Butler trims on hold
Charter schools get break from Senate
Computers in Florence police cars prove their potential in first hour
Condemned man's lawyer appeals to Taft
Ky. pulls ad after lawyers complain
Language barriers grow with minorities
Man surrenders to police for Price Hill store robbery
Morgan Elementary names new principal
Police dog was 'always something special'
Report: UK should do more for gender equity
Sabo possible skipper for Florence team
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report