The Curve 8900.

Research In Motion Ltd.

PROVIDENCE — Smartphones have become the new walkie-talkies.

Police Chief Dean M. Esserman has issued 92 BlackBerry Curve cell phones to all Police Department supervisors, from sergeant through major.

They will help to ensure that vital information is quickly and widely disseminated, hastening investigations and making it more likely that crimes will be solved, he said Tuesday.

Just as walkie-talkies have been a basic piece of equipment in police work for decades, keeping officers in touch with headquarters and one another even if they are running after a suspect, smartphones probably will be the indispensable item of the future, Esserman predicted.

“The BlackBerry technology is this department’s newest crime-fighting tool, providing … supervisors with complete and immediate access to the department’s records management and communications systems any time, any place, allowing officers to have access to everything they need while working in the field,” Esserman said.

Supervisors now can e-mail as well as talk. And they are able to view police reports, wanted-persons bulletins, active warrants with mug shots, crime-activity analyses, sex-offender registrations and news media advisories, among other information.

A BlackBerry Curve is a smartphone. Smartphones are the latest generation of cell phones, which function essentially as miniature computers with Internet access and an array of software applications, and include cameras.

“Over the years, we’ve moved the computer from the desk to the car,” Esserman said. “Now, we’re moving it from the car to the officer’s hip.”

As an example of the BlackBerrys’ utility, Esserman cited his instruction some time ago to shift commanders to e-mail en masse alerts of major incidents to all supervisors. A blast e-mail includes supervisors who are not listening to the police radio and is useful for events that are not broadcast by radio lest eavesdroppers hear them. The BlackBerrys will receive those alerts.

An investigator working on a case would be able to use the BlackBerry to take photos and quickly distribute them as e-mail attachments, the chief noted. And that investigator, on the spot, could show victims and witnesses mug shots on a BlackBerry to see if they recognize a suspect.

About 30 top-echelon command staff have had BlackBerrys for months, but beginning in early November the department distributed upgraded BlackBerrys to those supervisors plus new BlackBerrys to the rest of the supervisors.

The department opted for the BlackBerry Curve 8900, which features a larger screen, with service provided by T-Mobile and Nextel. The Nextel-provided BlackBerrys have gone to members of the Investigative Division, allowing them to use Nextel’s push-to-talk capability that enables conference calls within so-called talk groups. Since federal law enforcers also use Nextel phones, that makes it easier to communicate with them, too, said Maj. Steven M. Melaragno, police director of administration.

The exact cost of the BlackBerrys was not immediately available, but Melaragno said about $95,000 was budgeted to get the phones and maintain service for two years. The money came from a law-enforcement grant financed by the federal economic stimulus law entitled the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Esserman said he would like to see all sworn members of the police force have BlackBerrys some day.

gsmith@projo.com