The NYPD Still Uses Typewriters
It’s not just Wes Anderson fans who are keeping typewriters alive: The NYPD apparently still uses the machines for some of their paperwork, a fact that irks Queens councilman Danny Dromm, who is introducing a bill to force cops to drop typewriters for computers by 2016. He crafted the bill after fielding complaints from his constituents about delays in acquiring a copies of police reports because they had to be hand-typed.
“I can’t believe the police department is still using typewriters for these types of things,” Dromm told the Daily News.”We live in a computer age…I don’t even know where they get parts for these typewriters anymore.”
The typewriters in use, Commissioner Bill Bratton insisted, are for a pretty limited number of functions. “Currently, some forms are still required to be typed, so we do still have typewriters, but the vast majority of Department forms are now digitized,” Bratton said at a state Senate hearing.
It does seem pretty unnecessary, if charming, to have those old-school clackers as part of the station. But you know, we’re talking about a city agency that has a number of police using horses for transportation. Be happy that they aren’t inscribing your police report on wax tablets.