NYPD Still Using Typewriters

July 17, 2009

Public domain photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne confirmed the department's continued, if limited, use of the 20th-century writing devices, explaining that they're mainly used for filling out property vouchers -- forms that officers must file when they seize items during case investigations. The typewriters also are retained in case a technological meltdown disables the NYPD's computers, he said.

The vintage typing machines do not come cheap.

Public records show that the city signed a $432,900 contract for typewriter maintenance with Afax Business Machines in 2008, as well as a $99,570 contract with that company in 2009. Typewriter company Swintec received a $982,269 contract from the city in 2007.

Read Full Story at CNN.com

Topics:NYPD Technology

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