When it comes to my profession, there are many instances where I go without. I do not have a clean workstation, a printer with adequate ink, or hot and cold running female cops. That’s fine; I have come to expect as much.
What I do need is an adequate computer which runs a stable, effective data entry program.
My night work tour started Friday, and two hours in the computer system crashed. The front desk system is arguably the most important station in the building, because its purpose is to log the information from every report, crime, and arrest. That information can be seen department-wide, so if we say, have a shooting, the bosses can map the data adjust patrol patterns.
There is one detective in the entire division who is trusted to work the front desk system. No one else will be trained for reasons which I do not understand. The detective works during the day, Monday through Friday, so when the computer crashed on a weekend, the entire division grinds to a halt…