The blue police cruisers that roam the streets of East Lansing soon could become more like the talking car David Hasselhoff fought crime in during the 1980s - Knight Rider.

While the East Lansing Police Department's patrol cars will not shoot back sarcastic one-liners, officers will be able to talk to their cars, if the East Lansing City Council approves a contract at tonight's meeting to install upgrades to the fleet's on-board computer systems.

If the contract is approved, each cruiser's computer will be updated with voice recognition software and other upgrades, which would create a hands-free link between the driver and the information he or she needs.

"The biggest thing is officer safety," said Juli Liebler, East Lansing's deputy police chief. "They can spend less time looking at the computer screen and more time focusing on driving."

With the new system, officers can speak a license plate out loud and ask the computer to find the information of the registered owner of the vehicle. The computer would then speak important information back to the officer.

"The trouble with police cars nowadays is everything that requires your hands," Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth said.

He explained police officers have so many devices in their cruisers, such as radar, cameras, radio and a computer, it can be a burden.

"Anything that can free up our hands is a big help," he said.

If East Lansing City Council approves the contract at tonight's meeting in City Hall, 410 Abbott Road, the money will come out of the departments budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, said Michael Birchmeier, East Lansing's budget and accounting administrator.

New Ingham County Sheriff vehicles also will have the hands-free technology, Wrigglesworth said.

Liebler and Wrigglesworth have been exploring the computer upgrades for a few years now, Wrigglesworth said, and the upgrades also will help police departments throughout Ingham County share information better.

The upgrade also will aid in communication and information sharing between different police departments in Ingham County. By automatically updating courts and records bureaus with every issued citation, county police departments have better information.

"That is one of the main incentives," Wrigglesworth said.

The upgraded computers will process any tickets the officers issue, automatically uploading information into records bureaus and court records. By automatically uploading every ticket, there is a smaller chance for errors and the overall system is more efficient, Liebler said.

The new systems will cost $18,478.48, with $1,124 in technology going into 13 ELPD vehicles. The remaining costs are for maintenance and support.