Police Record-Keeping Technology Isn't Y2K Ready
Police Record-Keeping Technology Isnât Y2K Ready
By Andrew Gorosko
Because the police departmentâs main computer system employs outdated technology, its record keeping functions are expected to fail when the new year turns, as a result of the Y2K computer bug.
Among other problems, the failure will require police dispatchers to manually keep records until a new computer system is scheduled to go into operation in late January.
The problem is not expected to affect newly installed Emergency-911 (E-911) computerized dispatching equipment at the police station, which is used to route emergency calls for town police, state police, fire and ambulance responses. (See related story)
 The impending computer problem came to light December 22 in sworn testimony at the job termination hearing of Police Chief James E. Lysaght, Jr.
In that testimony, Bob Edwards, a computer consultant hired by the town to help the police plan a computer modernization project, said that from the turn of the new year until late January, the police department will have to keep records on paper, similar to the way records were kept in the past before computers were used.
The current computer system will fail when the new year turns due to the Y2K computer bug, in which computers are unable to differentiate the year 2000 from the year 1900, according to Mr Edwards.
Police hope to switch over to a new Y2K-compliant system by the end of January, allowing record keeping functions to again become computerized, he said.
 Administrative Police Lieutenant David Lydem said December 23 that although computerized record keeping will stop when the new year turns, the computer glitch will not affect officers being dispatched to emergencies.
 âItâs not going to affect police services. The only thing itâs going to affect temporarily is our records,â he said.
Records, which will be kept manually between the time the existing computer system fails and the new system goes into operation, will be entered into the new computer system when it becomes operational.