LAPD Turns To iPads To Help Fight Crime

WESTCHESTER (CBS) — LAPD command officers have just received a new high-tech crime fighting tool that may be on your own Christmas list.

The Police Foundation donated 100 new Apple iPad 2 portable tablet computers to the LAPD.

Commander Andy Smith received his new iPad Tuesday. He says while his wife may think it's a Christmas wish fulfilled, to him it's one more tether to the job, along with pagers and cell phones.

"I think it's a really valuable tool for the police," says Smith. "I think it's going to be a terrific step up and move forward in technology for all of us."

Smith says the exact uses for the iPads are still being figured out, but he believes it will be a valuable communication tool between command staff and their communities.

"They can pull up information, real-time prime information about what's going on their command," says Smith.

Smith says it's a new high-tech horizon for the police department, and the scope of possibilities is yet to be discovered.