It's Completely Absurd That the Police Still Use Typewriters

Today, New York Councilman Daniel Dromm will reportedly introduce legislation that will force the NYPD to stop using typewriters. That's right, the NYPD still has typewriters in all 77 precincts.

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It seems absurd that the New York Police Department still uses typewriters, despite, you know, computers. The New York Post reports that certain forms still need to be typed manually in ink because they haven't been digitized. They're never entered into a computer at all. Lose the form? It's gone. Forever. The use of typewriters isn't just a waste of time in stations, it's also bad for citizens who need to show up to the station to get certain forms.

And apparently, it's common knowledge that police stations still use typewriters. This comes up every couple of years when a constituent complains about a lost form or incident report. Dromm says he came up with his bill after a constituent was assaulted and then the cops lost their only copy of the criminal report on the incident.

Also, this topic comes up whenever the price tag of maintenance comes up. In 2009, there was a dustup over a $1 million in contracts to two vendors for the purchase of new typewriters and maintenance of the NYPD's existing fleet. A million bucks!

Former mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2012 comments about the city's use of typewriters is emblematic of the justification for keeping the tech around. He told CBS:

They still have a function and your belief that typewriters have gone away is just erroneous. There are companies that make typewriters around the world," Bloomberg said. "It's like books. Some people, believe it or not, still read books in paper.

The argument goes that they still exist and thus they should exist. Well not so fast, Bloomberg. Books with bindings have real use and value and probably will never die. In the face of better technology, you need a reason to keep typewriters alive.

Yes, some overseas intelligence agencies are turning to typewriters as a way to thwart espionage, but there is no point in using an old clicky clack mechanical typing machine for the maintenance of simple bureaucracy. If we haven't digitized some aspect of paper pushing, let's get on with it already.

"There's no a reason a police officer can't type up a report and put it into a computer," Councilman Dromm told the New York Post. That seems pretty reasonable. [New York Post]