Aether handheld wireless data solution leads to arrests

Use of Aether System’s PocketBlue handheld wireless data solution by the Peabody (Mass.) Police Department recently resulted in two arrests, one on a firearms charge, according to the company. Police responding to a hotel disturbance found 22 alleged gang members in the room. Using the PocketBlue handheld, officers were able to enter the individual’s names and receive criminal background information “in seconds,” a process that could have taken “an hour or more,” the company said. Also, use of the handheld eliminated the need to transmit individual names over two-way radios, which prevented eavesdroppers using scanners from intercepting the information. The result was that police apprehended one juvenile who had been reported missing by the Department of Social Services, and arrested another on an illegal possession of a firearm charge.