Equip Officers In The Field

First responders (police officers, firefighters, paramedics) are not intrinsically mobile. They have traditionally relied on brick and mortar institutions as the brains of their operations and only left these buildings to respond to emergencies. Radios were, and continue to be, the primary source of communication; relaying information from computing resources found within the office to officers in the field. However, the evolution of mobile technology has increased the autonomy of first-responders in the field, with nearly all emergency vehicles now equipped with on-board computers. Nonetheless, the capabilities of these devices remain limited and first-responders are still tethered to their vehicles and radios for decision-making. This is problematic given that their duties often involve quick decision-making and action outside these vehicles. Therefore, the important question to ask is: how do we equip officers in the field with the information they need to make rapid decisions that ensure not only their own safety but the safety of those in the communities they serve? …show more content…
Mobile computing on smartphones and tablets has reached a level of competency nearly on par with the power of PCs found in public safety offices or notebooks found in emergency vehicles. These devices—commercial-grade and rugged—provide the necessary battery life, connectivity, and processing power to enable first-responders to receive relevant information while in the field. Moreover, APCO International’s public safety application community Appcomm.org grew from 60 to 200 applications in only three years representing a strong and growing software market. Finally, cloud solutions such as the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud offer a level of security deemed appropriate by CJIS for storing public safety records. As a result, many hardware and software vendors, embracing modern IT standards, have partnered with the cloud-provider to improve their