At IACP 2017, Officer Safety is a Key Priority for Mobile Technology

This week, Panasonic was proud to showcase its rugged mobility products at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This event gives us a chance to share our latest Toughbook devices and solutions with new and existing customers, providing our team a valuable opportunity to gain better insights into the future of policing, how law enforcement leaders are reacting to these changes, and how Panasonic can ensure our technology meets the needs of those who serve our communities across the United States.

Let’s take a look at some of what we heard – and how Panasonic is delivering solutions that matter.

Officer Safety Matters

With mobile technology increasingly present in police vehicles, the safety hazards of distracted driving are a growing concern for law enforcement agencies. As a leading supplier of in-car rugged computers, Panasonic wants to ensure our Toughbook devices offer a variety of features and options that help minimize distractions. Sometimes, these features are subtle – the Panasonic Toughbook® 33, the first fully rugged 12 inch 2-in-1 detachable laptop which we introduced earlier this year, features a dynamic auto-brightness setting that balances information visibility with potentially distracting ambient light, and comes with a red backlit keyboard, less disrupting than white light when driving in a vehicle at night.

Less Typing, More Talking

Throughout our time at ICAP, a common refrain was that law enforcement officers want to be able to input data without typing. With a job that keeps them out of a traditional office environment, but one which comes with its fair share of paperwork, law enforcement users increasingly want good speech-to-text options in their mobile technology. With the Toughbook 33, we anticipated this use case, building in four individual microphones that allow for accurate, reliable voice control and speech-to-text capabilities.  That means that law enforcement personnel can expect high quality speech-to-text functionality no matter where their job takes them.

Officers Need Flexibility

The way law enforcement operates is evolving – and mobile technology is driving many of these changes. Looking to be more community-facing, while still able to access information when needed, law enforcement officers have been asking us for solutions that let them work seamlessly across a number of different environments.  

These demands drove many of our decisions around the Toughbook 33 – a brand new device that builds off the success of its predecessors but has been completely redesigned to reflect the evolving needs of our users. At IACP, many of the visitors to our booth were interested in the 2-in-1 functionality of the Toughbook 33  a fully capable, traditional laptop when docked in a car or at a desk, and a convenient, portable tablet that lets officers take information on the go without missing a beat. We also saw significant interest in the wide range of in-car mounting options available for the Toughbook 33 – from a traditional laptop configuration to a unique tablet mounting option with an accessory keyboard that frees up needed space in the vehicle while allowing keyboard access when needed.

When we attend events like IACP, we’re always interested in hearing from our customers – both on how they’re using our existing solutions, as well as how we can continue to make them better as the realities of the job evolve. Law enforcement work is sensitive, difficult, and specialized – and that’s why we’re proud of our continued dialogue with our customers that helps us deliver devices that help them and the communities they serve.

To learn more about Panasonic’s law enforcement and public safety solutions, click here.