Not clear here WHAT she was reading on the laptop. I would think that in some situations, information that the officer needs en route to a call would be coming through the laptop.
CAD-computer aided dispatch.
Sounds like what happened in my town. Highway trooper (female) blew through (70+ mph and red light) a large intersection without siren and was T-boned by opposing traffic. She died later at the hospital. The driver of the car that hit her was made out to be the bad guy and the subsequent investigation determined the incident merely an accident... police did not determine her to be at fault... though it was obvious she caused the accident.
I have a couple friends who say it’s just a matter of time until they crash while using the laptop to run a plate.
They also get their non-emergency dispatch orders over the system.
On top of that, our local departments have an encrypted IM system. The officers do a lot of their chat on the system. That’s more stoplight stuff and while running radar by the side of the road, but occasionally...