Cerulean Technology(R) today announced the Thurston County, Wash., Department of Communications (CAPCOM) will use PacketCluster Patrol(R) mobile software to provide patrol officers with immediate access to critical law enforcement information managed by the Washington State Patrol. Cerulean's wireless mobile software, running on a cellular digital packet data (CDPD)-based AT&T Wireless service, will allow Thurston County to more efficiently and safely respond to emergency calls for more than 210,000 people across 750 square miles.
Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol software will make criminal information from Thurston County's computer aided dispatch system (CAD) and several national, state and local databases quickly available to officers on patrol. Officers will also be able to tap into the Washington State Patrol ACCESS system, which holds hundreds of licensing and criminal history files.
Thurston County will use PacketCluster Patrol's open architecture application to wirelessly link laptop computers mounted in 100 patrol vehicles with criminal and motor vehicle databases. Through Cerulean's partnership with AT&T, CAPCOM will use AT&T Wireless CDPD service to quickly connect laptops to the department's local area network (LAN), which will query law enforcement databases for criminal history and vehicle and driver registration information. Using AT&T's reliable and high-speed CDPD infrastructure, CAPCOM did not need to build a new radio frequency infrastructure, eliminating an expensive and time-consuming process.
Reduced radio traffic will improve response times
Before Cerulean, officers and public safety personnel from seven law enforcement agencies and 18 fire departments across the county relied on a single manual radio dispatch system to obtain law enforcement data from the field. At times, officers and public safety personnel had to wait several minutes for potentially life-saving information, such as addresses, license plate and criminal history data from dispatchers.
With PacketCluster Patrol, officers can access this information in real time, enabling them to make on-the-spot arrests. Cerulean's wireless computing technology will also dramatically reduce radio traffic between officers and dispatchers. This will enable dispatchers to assist and properly route emergency calls, while monitoring law enforcement activities to ensure officer safety in the field. Reduced radio traffic will also free dispatchers' time, once consumed by routine information requests, to actively track emergency calls and quickly respond to an officer's request for back-up enforcement, for example.
"We needed to reduce the congestion on our radio channels and reduce the number of data requests dispatchers relayed each day," said Jim Quackenbush, director of communications at CAPCOM. "We see Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol mobile computing system as a way to reduce that congestion, while enabling our officers and other public safety personnel to access the information they need from the field to work more efficiently and safely."
CAPCOM also needed a mobile computing system that would enable them to communicate without potential criminals eavesdropping on their calls. Cerulean's PacketCluster Patrol enables real-time silent communication between CAPCOM and mobile units for the transfer of sensitive information and calls for quick back-up.
"The objectives of most public safety agencies are to ensure officer safety, while maintaining efficiency and productivity. CAPCOM is no exception. Like many organizations, it needed to overhaul its communications system to support its mission," said David Rosi, vice president of marketing at Cerulean Technology. "Using PacketCluster Patrol, the agency can drastically reduce radio dispatchers' workload, while improving officer safety and efficiency. They now know each officer on the street has on-the-spot access to potentially life-saving information, and can reach a dispatcher immediately to call for back-up or relay an urgent message."
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