In modern law enforcement, a laptop computer is just as useful a tool as a squad car or a handgun.

Laptops help officers respond to calls, write tickets, identify suspects in the field and communicate with other agencies.

The City Council voted to accept a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday that will streamline communication among four law enforcement agencies in Buchanan County. The grant will buy equipment and software to install mobile data centers in vehicles for the St. Joseph Police and Fire departments, the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri Western State University police department.

Sgt. Larry Stobbs and Sgt. Ron Gordon led the Police Department’s grant application process.

“I’m the money guy, and he’s the technology guy,” Mr. Stobbs said.

Police began installing laptops in patrol cars in 2007. Mr. Stobbs said officers like the equipment so much, they complain if they have to use a car that doesn’t have it.

Using 2007 prices as a guide, the grant will purchase 51 laptop computers, 47 mounting units for computers, 47 mobile radios, one base radio and multi-site radio controller, 115 license barcode readers and 25 handheld ticket writers, along with assorted software and training costs. Numbers could vary slightly, as prices for some items have gone up since 2007, while others may be cheaper.

Mr. Stobbs said $1.2 million may sound like a big chunk of money, but the Police Department still had to work hard to stretch the grant as far as possible.

“When you’re buying technology items, you can go through it pretty quick,” Mr. Stobbs said.

The new technology not only helps officers in the field, but can aid administrative officers who track trends. The system allows officers to file each report electronically at the end of the night, so the department can track statistics almost in real time. In the past, officers wrote each report in longhand on paper, and another officer had to enter each report into a computer system, sometimes weeks or months later.

“Earlier this year, we had a spike in robberies,” Mr. Stobbs said. “Without the laptops and the system we had in place, we might not have noticed the trend until months later.”

Under normal circumstances, the department searches for grants that can aid its programs, then fills out an application in hopes of receiving money. This time, government officials actually notified the department about the program.

“We kind of had to work backwards on this one,” Mr. Gordon said. “We found out we were approved for this grant, then they said, ‘Hey, you need to give us an application now so you can get your money.’”

Now that the council has approved the grant, Mr. Gordon said the money should be available by the end of November.

Clinton Thomas can be reached at clintonthomas@npgco.com.