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Manitou company supplies computers By Joanna Bean Gazette Telegraph So you thought laptop computers were strictly the domain of the trav eling salesman? Think again. Portable computers are coming to a police car near you. The Colorado Springs Police De partment has installed seven com puters in its squad cars with plans to buy another 60 or so by the end of the year. The department hopes to even tually outfit all its officers with the little computing marvels. With a laptop, police of@cers who pull over a speeding car, for example, can check a driver’s license and li cense plate numbers with the click of a few computer keys. Without a laptop, an answer to the officer's query can take up to 30 min utes as a dispatcher in police head quarters searches computer databases and then sends the answer back over a two-way radio. It’s such an obvious need in law enforcement, said Robert Elsner, data systems manager for the depart ment. “Everyone is looking at these things.” The laptop computer system works like this: An officer types in a request about a set of license plates, for ex ample. The computer transmits the re quest via radio wave to a radio tower in the Colorado Springs foothills, which sends the query via microwave to the police operations center on South Nevada Avenue. From there, the query hits local, state and na tional databases. A response then pops up on the officer's computer screen. Other agencies have installed “dumb” terminals in officers’ cars that allow them to inquire about a suspect’s record. But the laptops going in Colorado Springs officers’ cars — a first in the nation, officials say — will create all kinds of new computing possibilities, Eisner said. With the laptop, officers can pull up the department's policy and proce dures manual and Colorado Springs municipal code. Officers eventually will be able to access Colorado laws and even put case reports — infor mation about calls to which they re spond — on the computer. The laptops come from Altura Com puter Systems, a tiny, 2-year-old Man itou Springs company that specializes in building high-end portable com puters. Owner Awda Hazeem,scours the globe for parts, then has an East Coast contractor build the computers. Since 1993, Hazeem has introduced 16 different lines. He’s selling three models now, including the Palo series, which the Police Department bought. The computers sell for $2,300 and come equipped with a 486DX2-66 mi croprocessor, the second-fastest com puter ‘‘brain” available on the mar ket. The Police Department is spending about $4,500 outfitting each car with the laptop and the radio communica tions equipment. The Police Department order is Al ura’s biggest, but the distinction isn't likely to stand, Hazeem said. He said he’s negotiating a $500,000 contract with an environmental company. Hazeem said he plans to open a small assembly line in Colorado Springs this fall. Altura, with three employees, booked revenue of $623,000 last year. Hazeem said he expects to double that this year, pos sibly hitting $2 million in revenue. “Things have gone very well,” he said. ‘‘We are taking growth one step at a time.” Mary Kelley/Gazette Telegraph Colorado Springs police officer Donald Chagnon created a ‘menu. Altura Computer Systems, a Manitou Springs com software package suitable for use by the Police Departpany, won a contract to Install its computers on cop cars.
Newspaper Details
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph
Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
Sat, May 06, 1995
Page 54
Full Page
Clipped by
Donald C.
USA 28 Jul 2026
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