Snoqualmie police officers are hitting the road this month with faster computers.

The city is spending nearly $31,000 to equip its police department with five new mobile computer terminals. The rugged terminals are used by officers to download information while on the road.

Currently being configured by the city’s information technology department, the new computers replace models installed in 2004.

Police Chief Jim Schaffer said the old models worked fine at first, but have become problematic five years on.

Their software isn’t meant to handle modern dispatching methods, and the way they were installed makes it hard for city technicians to service them.

The new terminals will save officers time and prevent confusion when they run license plates or receive information from a dispatcher, according to the city.

“It will make their mobile office — their vehicle — a better office,” Schaffer said.

As a consequence, officers are going to catch more illegal drivers and people sought by warrants in the community.

The old computers were made up of a screen and keyboard in the front of the squad car, with the computer body and hard drive in the trunk. Current models will be self-contained, armored laptops, allowing officers to detach them from the car console and carry them indoors to write reports.

The new terminals could save the department thousands of dollars a year by decreasing the departments’ reliance on radio dispatch through Issaquah Police Department. Snoqualmie is billed by Issaquah based on how much it uses radio time.

Currently, pairs of officers share squad cars and computer terminals.

The computers come in tough, rubberized case, and have touch-screens as well as backlit keyboards for typing at night.

The old models will be resold by the city, their hard drives removed.

There’s always someone that might be able to use the old laptops, Schaffer said.

“It never ceases to amaze me,” he said.