Mobile data terminal

While MDTs were originally thin clients, most have been replaced with fully functional PC hardware, known as MDCs (Mobile Digital Computers).

By the early 1990s, police departments began to increasingly use computers for more advanced activities, as opposed to routine patrol tasks that accounted for the typical modicum of usage.

[4] These early police computers, including those developed by Motorola, became notorious for security issues due to the relatively basic data protocol used.

Despite Motorola's marketed appearance of secure communications, it was soon discovered that this conspicuous “special code” for bit interleaving and data stream obfuscation was nothing more than simple ASCII.

In the 1990s, hackers deciphered the properties of the protocol and PC programs soon began appearing on the market allowing the general public to monitor police communications - an issue that lasted well into the 2000s.

They are usually environmentally hardened packages with power supply protection and robust memory file systems that greatly improve reliability and task efficiency.

Mobile data terminals are often used in conjunction with a "black box" that contains a GPS receiver, cell phone transceiver, other radio devices, or interfaces to industry-specific equipment.

Its mapping software allows for accurate location of the incident to be transmitted directly to the ambulance as well as plotting the quickest route to the scene.