The box is the MDT or the MDC, aka the computer in the car.
When I started working, the MDT had a 4" x 4" screen with orange, six point font on a black-green screen canted at a 35 degree angle upwards. At night they were difficult enough to read, but in the day the bright light all but obscured the screens.
The box holds power.
The box holds calls, addresses, hundred blocks, nearest cross streets, the caller's name and phone number, suspect info, and a few details of the incident. The box lets you self-dispatch. The box lets you save the air by clearing and disposing of calls by the MDT.
The box lets you run plates. If you memorized the name and dob, you could run the RO for driving status and warrants as you drove.
After a patrol car, the box is the best tool for an officer.
Eight years ago, the MDTs were updated.
The new boxes are better. They have large, color, touch screens. All of the commands have short cuts for the ease of driving and typing and speed.
The new MDTs can even pull up mug photos, making the name game with a lying con much easier for the police to play.
The boxes are due for an upgrade. Eight year old computers do not have replacement parts. Old MDTs run on radio waves and aren't wireless. Old computers can't pull up Google Maps or Earth for tactical perimeters. You can't write reports on the old MDTs.
What the new boxes will be is still up to committees.
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