The iconic “memo book” in which officers have taken handwritten notes since the 1800s will be scrapped next Monday, The New York Times reports.

A new app to be rolled out to officers’ department-issued iPhones will allow them to take notes which will be automatically synced with a central database.

Deputy Chief Anthony Tasso, commanding officer of NYPD’s IT bureau, said: “It gives us the abilities we did not have before, when memo books were left in officers’ lockers and we didn’t have access to a vast amount of information.”

He added: “It’s not just going from paper to a digital app — it’s changing the culture.”