Sarnia's newly sworn-in police chief plans to make new technology more available to his officers.
Norm Hansen says some of his officers are already testing some equipment.
"We just put tablets in the cruisers so officers have full access to everything in their cars," says Hansen. "Down the road that may end up being replaced with a docking station for a phone, and that's a computer you can take with you. We're actually one of the lead agencies right now experimenting with some of these things."
Hansen says officers want to be able to access criminal record checks right from their phone.
"That's my vision for the future. Anybody 30 and under grew up with a phone in their hand. That's what they want and that's how they communicate," he says.
He says he's also looking into getting a license plate reader for the service.
"I happened to be in Peterborough meeting with their chief and they purchased one and it's unbelievable," he says. "They drive two swipes of the downtown and they had ten different charges of people with expired plates, expired licenses, no insurance... it's just automation."
Hansen says they could use the device in a number of different capacities.
"For speeding, or we could use it for human trafficking investigations if we're concerned about plates from out of town," he says.
Hansen says they're looking into grants and provincial funding to help pay for any possible technology upgrades.