Going paperless and keeping patrolling officers in their vehicles is the goal of a new nearly $300,000 initiative by Monroeville.

In signing off on a $299,549 bid from Alert Tracking Systems of Hilliard Ohio, for a Windows software-based records keeping program for Monroeville police, municipal officials signaled their agreement in updating an antiquated and inefficient program currently used to keep police records.

"It's a great system," said Monroeville Lt. Steve Pascarella. "I think we'll be happy with it."

Alert Tracking Systems was one of 17 bidders on the project, the highest bid being more than $1 million.

The software was run through testing which included three-hour demonstrations at Monroeville's Public Safety Training Center, according to Pascarella.

The current system used for recordkeeping and dispatches is 13 years old and based in the old DOS format, said Assistant Chief Doug Cole.

The new system would not only be a software upgrade but would allow police officers to type reports in the squad car using already existing laptops " cutting down on time spent at the police station instead of out on the road " and avoiding a lot of physical paperwork.

"Right now, everything we do is manually done," he said.

While responding to a criminal mischief call, a smashed mailbox for example, an officer could write the report on scene and then resume patrol duties without having to drive back to the municipal building to fill out paperwork, something most officers hate, Cole said.

A more serious call, a suspected homicide or traffic accident with fatalities would be more intensive, he said.

The system also allows officers to communicate with software programs used by outside agencies, like PennDOT.

The current system is proprietary and can't share information with different programs, Pascarella said.

Officials seemed to agree that the new system not only beats the old, but its competitors as well.

"This one, by far, exceeded the capabilities of the other bidders," said 2nd Ward Councilman Dave Kucherer.

In addition, the software, once its outfitted in patrol cars will also be able to track where Monroeville squad cars are using global positioning software.

Monroeville firefighting and emergency medical services officials have the option of joining onto the system at a price of $20,750 for each agency.

First Ward Councilman Frank Franci made a motion to earmark leftover funds to pay for the fire departments. Council approved the measure by a 5-2 vote with 3rd Ward Councilwoman Lois Drumheller and Kucherer opposed.

Kucherer said he wan-ted fire officials to help pay for it if they join the system. Currently fire and EMS officials pay to use an Internet-based system to log information about calls, which ends up going to local, federal and state officials said Cole, who is a paramedic and volunteer firefighter.

Talks about getting fire and EMS officials onboard with the program are still in the beginning stages, he said.

Fire departments could decide to help chip in if talks progressed further, Cole said.

The system will likely take several months to implement, something that isn't necessarily out of the norm but would require patience, Pascarella said.

The system would be paid for using $250,000 from a 2007 bond issue and $98,865 in close-out disbursements from the now defunct Eastern Regional Communications Center.