LONGMONT -- It probably isn't what comes to mind when you think "Robocop," but Longmont police are using more and more technology to enforce the laws, and officers said it is saving time and improving accuracy.

A license plate reader can read and cross-reference hundreds of license plates with crime databases in an hour.

A computer system can pull data from car computers from moments before a crash to help investigators reconstruct accidents.

Officers use laser GPS systems to diagram accident scenes and upload the information directly into computers as part of the accident investigation and reconstruction.

And a speed-detecting laser gun has a mounted camera that determines whether motorists are following too closely.

Longmont Police Traffic Sergeant Mike Bell said the tools are speeding up investigations and helping to keep officers on the streets by keeping them out of court for ticket challenges, especially in cases involving the camera. It records a car as it is clocked and shows its following distance from another vehicle. Bell said motorists have given up on challenging tickets once they saw the video.

"We're talking about cars that are following right on someone's rear bumper," he said. "Where the problem comes in is most people will say, 'Well, I wasn't speeding. I drive this way all the time.'"

Bell said the standard for following distance is at least two car lengths under 45 mph and three car lengths at speeds faster than 45 mph.

The technology takes out the doubt of an officer's observations by keeping a video record of the incident.

Bell also said that accident investigations are sped up by saving officers time mapping accident scenes. The laser measurements and GPS software are also sometimes used to map other scenes, such as a recent discovery of a transient man's body. He died of natural causes, the coroner ruled, but police initially treated the area as a possible crime scene and carefully

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Longmont police go high-tech