Gary police stop using computers for reports

GARY – City police must stop using computers to fill out arrest reports and affidavits and instead write them out by hand.\nThe city has distributed about 150 laptops at $3,500 each to officers over the past few years. But after police administrators met with Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Laura Morrison on Monday about problems with some reports, a memo by Gary police Cmdr. Anthony Stanley was circulated prohibiting the use of computers for official paperwork.\n“No computer-generated arrests or affidavits will be accepted,” Stanley’s order states.\nFraternal Order of Police President Del Stout said many members are upset about the change.\n“It’s easier to type up a report, it makes for a cleaner, more thorough report,” Stout said. “We’re going backwards with technology instead of forward.”\nDepartment spokesman Lt. Samuel Roberts said the memo may not reflect the consensus of the meeting. He said the problem was some officers were not using the correct forms.\n“They were generating their own, and in some cases the required information was not included,” he said.\nHe said one example was a probable-cause affidavit that did not include a place for the judge to sign.\nThe department’s information technology division will develop new computer forms for future use, Roberts said.