Devices let officers keep their hands on the steering wheel.

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) – Several years ago while patrolling the tiny North Country community of Milan, Sgt. Cecile Strout spotted a car weaving in the roadway.

It sped off when the driver saw her and then, Strout recalled, “The beer cans were out the window.”

From behind the wheel, Strout had to begin a multitasking routine familiar to every officer who drives a cruiser: “The minute you have a pursuit, you have to have your light bar flashing,” she said Monday. “You have to call in on your radio and notify dispatch.

“When you’re going into another community you have to notify them you’re coming through. And then you have the bumps in the road you have to control.”

In short, “You have to be an octopus to get to all your stuff and operate safely,” she said.

On Monday, Strout and representatives from about 50 other New Hampshire police departments gathered at the University of New Hampshire to learn more about a voice-activated computer system designed to allow officers to keep their hands on the wheel – and off of computers, radio dials and radars – while doing their job.

While touching a key on the steering wheel, officers can speak a command, such as “Strobes,” to turn on their car’s flashing lights. Or, they can be connected to another department’s radio frequency by simply naming that town or department.

The new system – called Project 54, after the 1960s police television comedy “Car 54, Where Are You?” – coordinates the workings of myriad electronic gadgets with one computer that features a glowing touch screen.

The system includes a Global Positioning System to show dispatchers where the patrol car is at all times. In her car chase, Strout topped 70 mph and went through Berlin and Gorham, before eventually catching up to her suspects and a cache of beer and hard liquor in their car. But she said her job would have been safer and easier with the new voice-activated system.

Strout and several others at Monday’s meeting said they plan to put their towns on the waiting list to be outfitted with one. Working with grants from the Justice Department, a team of UNH researchers has developed and already installed the system in about 90 local and state police patrol cars, according to Brett Vinciguerra, a research engineer in the university’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

This year, the team plans to install voice-activated systems in about 80 patrol cars in 25 towns and cities and an additional 180 systems in state police and highway patrol cars.

“At this point, the project goes from years of research and development to demonstration and application,” John Aber, UNH vice president for research and development, told the gathering of police chiefs and officers at the New England Center.

“I hope you can put this technology to use in the very near future to improve your jobs and the lives of your citizens.”

Stratford Police Chief Scott Young said he was enamored of another feature that comes with the system: a remote hand-held computer that allows officers to read the bar code on driver’s licenses to check their records on the spot. He said this would be a big help when officers are dealing with many suspects, such as underaged partygoers.

Young’s department is among the 25 in line to receive Project 54 systems this year. “My officers are very excited about it,” he said. “We take a lot of pride in our department and we’d like to have the bragging rights and show our town that even though we’re a small town we’re going to be state-of-the-art.”