When West Valley Officers Talk, Their Computers Listen

To LAPD Homicide Det. Andrew Purdy, who badly injured his arm in a police pursuit earlier this year, sitting at a keyboard punching out lengthy investigative reports has been, well, “murder.”

Moving his left wrist to type follow-up reports that are routinely seven or eight pages long aggravates the injury, sending pain up to his shoulder.

“By the end of a report, I’d be really sore,” Purdy said from his desk at West Valley homicide.

But a new computer software program being tested at the West Valley station has taken the keyboard--and the painful pounding of its keys--out of the data-entry equation.

Now, when Purdy “types up” a report, he says to the computer, “Wake up.”

Once the machine is on, Purdy simply speaks in a normal voice and his words appear on the screen.

“My arm doesn’t fatigue anymore,” Purdy said. “I don’t have to go home and medicate myself.”

Purdy is one of eight officers at the West Valley station testing the Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional software. If the pilot program is successful, it may be expanded to other Los Angeles Police Department divisions.

Although widely used in private industry, the voice-activated software is relatively new to law enforcement. In fact, the West Valley pilot program is being officially unveiled today.

“Once I learned this software was out there, I knew it could do wonders for the men and women of the LAPD,” said City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who convinced Dragon Systems to donate software for the test period.

While the pilot program is aimed at officers assigned to light duty as a result of injuries on the job, Chick said the program could eventually be made available to all officers, increasing efficiency department-wide.

“It is estimated that detectives spend between 40% and 60% of their time behind a desk typing reports,” Chick said.

“And officers aren’t hired for their typing skills,” added Det. Thomas Barnhart, who helped bring the testing program to the West Valley station.

Besides making work easier for officers who have already suffered injuries, Barnhart said the program could prevent such injuries as carpel tunnel syndrome, which are becoming more common at the LAPD.

He said the computer programs retail for $100 to $180 each, but it is possible to purchase the right to use them in bulk at a reduced rate.

Either way, he said, it would be a good investment.

“If an officer can dictate a report in 30 minutes instead of typing it in three or four hours, it becomes extremely valuable,” he said.