“Useless smartphones? Think again,” NYPD official says

Aug 30, 2017 05:20 GMT  ·  By

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information & Technology Jessica Tisch has issued a public response to recent reports of a possible transition to iPhones, explaining that while they will indeed switch to Apple’s devices, the Windows phones that are currently on the streets of New York aren’t by any means “useless.”

Discussing the NY Post report that revealed the planned transition to iPhones, Tisch started her post with an acid comment:

“This Sunday, while a Post reporter was writing her story, NYPD officers used their smartphones to help respond to over 25,000 911 calls; ran 18,000 searches; and viewed 1,080 flyers of missing or wanted persons. Sunday is a slow day,” she posted.

Tisch went on to explain how the NYPD picked Windows Phone instead of Android and iOS, revealing that 3 years ago when the police planned to commit to mobile, Microsoft’s smartphone platform was the only one allowing them to use the previous investments in custom Windows applications and thus reduce the overall costs of the mobile approach.

Good security, affordable phones

At the same time, Tisch explained, the security offered by Windows phones played a decisive role, especially because the devices were supposed to be used by law enforcement. But the investments that Apple has made into its mobile platform made it more appropriate for NYPD use, so a year ago, the police planned the migration to Apple devices, with the target date being this fall.

“Our smartphone initiative is 45% under budget. Based on current rate of spending, we expect to stretch what was initially budgeted at two years of spending to more than four years,” Tisch explains.

Jessica Tisch ends the post on the same acid tone that she used in the beginning, revealing that the Windows phones used by the cops helped cut response times by more than 8 percent, addressing emergencies like kids gone missing, filing car accident reports, and domestic violence.

“Sure doesn’t sound like a ‘useless smartphone,’ does it?” she said, clearly disagreeing with the choice of words in the original NY Post article.

Jessica Tisch Statement