Today, the most common patrol computer is a laptop that's designed for use in and out of the car. But it's not an ordinary laptop. The stress of patrol duty would turn an ordinary laptop, even the latest high-end Macs or PCs, into really expensive doorstops.
A patrol car is a vicious environment for a computer. First of all, cars produce a lot of vibration when they are revving down the road or even just idling. You and I hardly notice this vibration because we're used to it and because our bodies are considerably more robust than high-tech electronic equipment, but the constant vibration of an operating patrol car can shake loose the chips in an ordinary laptop.
Vibration is one major concern for patrol car computers. Another, more important, concern is the treatment the computer will receive by its using officer. Cops can be really hard on computers. They can spill coffee on the keyboards, accidentally rap the display screens with a hard object, or drop their machines.
The solution for agencies that want to operate computers in the torture chambers known as patrol units is to buy ruggedized systems. These computers have been cooked, frozen, bashed, dropped, shaken, covered with dust, and splashed with liquids, to prove they can take the punishment.
The following is a quick look at some of the leading manufacturers of ruggedized computers for public safety applications and some of their most popular models.
