A little over half a year ago the NYPD was looking to ditch their 36,000 Windows Phones for iPhones by the end of 2017. Noted by the New York Daily News, it turns out the rollout is still ongoing and the New York City police department is still in the process of equipping officers with iPhones.
According to the report, the rollout of the iPhones to officers has started in the southernmost portions of Manhattan— from Wall St. to 59th St. Officers in the NYC boroughs of Staten Island and the Bronx also already received iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 plus models right around Christmas. The department has additional plans to roll out the iPhones to the remaining of the two NYC boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens once all officers have the devices in Manhattan.
Rolling out at a pace of 600 phones a day, officers in these areas of Manhattan will have the devices ready within the next week. Just as with the Nokia Windows Phones, they will be able to access 911 calls and dispatches, perform criminal background checks, fill out some summonses, accident reports, and domestic violence reports on the iPhone devices.
The report shows the NYPD is apparently not paying for these new iPhones, as they are considered an upgrade under their current service contracts with AT&T. Microsoft’s old Nokia Windows Phones are also not being trashed, as the NYPD plans to wipe the data off the previously used devices and selling them back.