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NATCHEZ — Thanks to the incredible generosity of an anonymous donor, Adams County Sheriff’s deputies will have the use of laptop computers to more quickly gather information and communicate while patrolling the county’s 440 miles of roadways.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten reported earlier this year that a donor, who did not wish to be named, had provided $25,000 to purchase the computers, stands, and all accessories needed for them to be installed in patrol vehicles.

That equipment has now arrived and is being installed and made ready for deputies to use.

Patten said the equipment will allow deputies to gather information during stops and input data without having to drive back to the sheriff’s office.

“It will allow us to move into the 21st century of law enforcement. We have 440 miles in this county, and officers have to drive all the way back to the sheriff’s office to input data. We have three or four deputies to each shift and that’s a long way to drive back to do a report,” Patten said. “Now that we have these computers, deputies can stay in the field, do their reports, and will be able to run tags and driver’s licenses while out in the field.”

The sheriff’s office server must be updated to run the software needed to make the change. While computers have been installed and can be used now for some purposes, that server update is needed to make the computers fully functional. The update should be complete by year’s end, he said.

“Another thing those computers are going to do is help take a massive load off of information gathering that flows through dispatchers. That can be a lot on two dispatchers, particularly when you have multiple agencies working together. We will still need dispatchers to confirm and run information, but deputies will be able to do a lot more in the field,” he said.

“I am grateful for the guardian angel, who is a huge supporter of law enforcement and has never asked for one favor in return. He just wants to make sure we have the best law enforcement in our area of the state,” Patten said.

“I often hear elected officials talk about how they want to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money. Citizens want to be safe. Investing in law enforcement is being good stewards of tax dollars,” he said.