Mug Shots in Patrol Cars

Jon L. Hendricks | The Times A repeat offenders mug shot is brought up on Porter County Sheriff's Officer

Kevin Van Kley's vehicle laptop Wednesday. Officers now have the capability to see pictures of

offenders through their mobile information system called Tiburon.

Officers in cars can view jail mug shots

By Ken Kosky

Thursday, March 12, 2009

VALPARAISO | If Porter County Sheriff's Department Officer Kevin Van Kley is out patrolling and needs an offender's jail mug shot, he doesn't need to drive back to the police station to pick up one.
Van Kley and the rest of the county officers are now able to use their in-car laptop computers to access the entire collection of mug shots taken at the Porter County Jail.
"It makes our job more efficient and makes us better equipped as police officers," Van Kley said.
Lt. Chris Eckert, department spokesman, said the new capability will benefit officers who are asked to serve an arrest warrant or locate an escapee. The safety of officers will improve because officers will know what the person they are seeking looks like.
Eckert said officers will also benefit any time they encounter a person who they believe is lying about their identity. Officers can pull up not only jail mug shots, but also pictures of offenders' tattoos and scars. This could prevent people from successfully pretending to be their sibling or friend, Eckert noted.
"It's another tool for officer safety and public safety," he said.
The officers will only have access to photographs of people who have been booked into Porter County Jail. People's driver's license photos can't currently be accessed via in-car computers, Eckert said.

Jon L. Hendricks | Times

Porter County Sheriff's Officer Kevin Van Kley calls in a traffic stop Wednesday,