L-Tron Corporation Walks the Beat for Law Enforcement

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1 White Paper From Paper & Pen to Cloud-Based Data Management L-Tron Corporation Walks the Beat for Law Enforcement Executive Summary With budgets being trimmed, Law Enforcement Officers, the Department of Transportation and security agencies are being asked to do more with less while continuing to keep their communities safe. To manage effectiveness without adding overhead, Law Enforcement agencies must be equipped with tools to evaluate situations, document information and process citations and reports quickly and accurately. Today, approximately 25 states in the US have adopted technology to automate the citation process in patrol cars. Software, used with a hand-held bar code scanning device and laptop computer, collects data from the bar code on a driver s license to auto-populate an electronic citation form. This method shortens the time it takes to issue a citation by more than 50%. With the amount of data that is collected each day by government agencies, (commonly referred to as big data ) the ability to access information about a neighborhood, residence, vehicle or person is available but not easily retrievable using basic database management systems. Depending on how much data is available, it could require multiple servers and millions of dollars to manage. For Law Enforcement, public data systems are massive and nearly impossible to extract data from on a regular basis. Those who are using a data collection device are seeing major improvements in productivity, accuracy and overall effectiveness. The ability to capture varying amounts of data through a bar code has changed the landscape for Law Enforcement, and technology is providing them with an opportunity to become more informed, more efficient and provide safer communities. The purpose of this whitepaper is to identify the technological challenges that currently exist in Law Enforcement and Public Sector environments, the effect it has on organizations and communities and how these challenges can be resolved through the automation of data collection and cloud-based database management.

2 A device like L-Tron s 4910LR has an ergonomic design, aggressive reading capability, and the ability to read damaged and reflective bar codes. The benefit? Easy to read no hand-written tickets Tickets are issued faster automated forms fill Reduction of errors human error eliminated Increased revenue fewer ticket dismissals Scan this QR code to read more about this device & other solutions that benefit Law Enforcement applications. Identifying the Perpetrator Process Automation. The REAL ID Act mandates that all states have a readable bar code on driver s licenses. Now nearly half of all Law Enforcement agencies in the U.S. have transitioned from using a manual-based system to using an automated solution with a hand-held bar code scanning device like the L-Tron 4910LR. For e-citation and accident reporting applications, a hand-held bar code scanner reduces the burden of hand-writing a citation, lowers operating costs, and virtually eliminates errors. Hand-writing traffic citations and other violations are extremely time-consuming (15-20 minutes vs. 5 minutes) for the Officer and takes time away from improving the safety of the neighborhood. As with any automated process, it s also about ergonomics and safety. The ability to store the device safely and securely in a patrol car keeps the unit out of the way and easy to locate, and a device that looks and feels like a patrol car microphone is familiar in the hands of the Officer. Value Add. With manual processes being costly and time consuming (supplies and labor costs totaling nearly $1M per year in some cases), an automated system has a relatively short return on investment (ROI) and greatly reduces ticket processing time, labor costs and errors. Greater Visibility. Now that data collection has automated an otherwise manual process, data retrieval becomes the next challenge to continuous productivity improvement. Today, Law Enforcement Officers have limited visibility regarding specific information that might increase the service value for their community. The ability to easily access data from their department s records management system (RMS) would allow them to be more informed about the people, residences, businesses and traffic patterns in their area. This includes information from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and court records. Accident reports, time of day most speeding tickets are issued in a particular area being patrolled, open arrest warrants on an individual or in that neighborhood, or specific details about a person (age, arrest warrants, Resources used to manually issue a citation could be redeployed to protect the community minutes minutes minutes 5-10 days Hand write the ticket Officer takes ticket to applicable courthouse for processing Ticket info is interpreted by data entry personnel & entered into the system Ticket is processed through the system 2

3 parole violations, etc.) or vehicle (registered, insured, stolen, etc.) are also available. This data allows Officers to be better informed and better prepared when called to an incident, accident or just handling a routine traffic violation. Providing information to other state and local agencies would also be helpful when working with issues that cross state or county lines. With a manual process, it may take days to obtain, and when the information is finally received, it may have to be accessed through hand-written notes and paperwork such as court documents, citations, etc. To remain effective, Law Enforcement Officers and others who are working to keep our communities safe need the right technology in order to know what s happening around them at all times. Crunching the Numbers. Many local Law Enforcement agencies are getting pressure from their communities to increase presence and keep neighborhoods safe and protected. Unfortunately, the effects of the economic downturn on Law Enforcement agencies may continue to be felt for the next 5 10 years, or perhaps even longer. Although budgets are getting smaller each year, there is continued pressure on local agencies to perform more efficiently. This puts the standard budget allocation of percent going toward public safety at risk; forcing agencies to take a hard look at how to do more with less. By incorporating data collection technology that yields a ROI of 18 months, and reduces the time it takes to issue a citation by 33%, the benefits outweigh the cost of outfitting Officers and patrol cars with Who Is the Victim? With tighter budgets and limited technology, the effectiveness of public service agencies will decrease rapidly due to: More time spent processing paperwork than protecting the community Dismissed citations due to manual errors Dispatch unable to provide Officers detailed information this technology. It may even allow for upgrades of equipment every 3-5 years. In addition to increasing productivity and allowing more time for Officers to keep their communities safe, the ability to automatically collect and retrieve information may result in increased revenue. One contributor to this increase is the anticipated reduction of dismissed violations due to errors made on hand-written forms. Data In, Information Out. For years the public sector has struggled with how to utilize massive amounts of data that exist in numerous agency databases. The information contained in these databases are key to increasing effectiveness, but the options for compiling and extracting into a single system are complicated and costly. Finding a better way to manage this data on a more economic level would allow Officers and administrators to be better informed, make decisions faster and offer better use of on-duty time. With cloud-based data management the data is more secure, can be accessed in real-time, and consist of critical data necessary to providing protection and accident prevention in our communities. Cloud-Based Ingenuity In some areas where electronic ticketing has been in use, police departments have developed solutions to keep Officers and administrators informed by issuing smartphones capable of accessing their RMS. This allows Officers to retrieve information about a specific location, person, vehicle or neighborhood. The number of open warrants, domestic incidents, registered gun owners, and even photos of parolees can be viewed. On the west coast, some are using what they call predictive policing. Algorithms are used to determine the possibility of a situation occurring in a specific area based on events of the past. The application applies historical information to current information that Police Officers inherently know, and results are determined based on patterns of data. The system utilizes thousands of data points, including robberies, assaults, and other crimes. This puts the tool in the hands of the patrolling Officer, and gives them the ability to patrol neighborhoods with knowledge of the area. 3

4 Consumerization of Pocket Devices. For agencies who employ technology to offset staffing reductions, they may be using a consumer device like an ipad or cell phone, to run the application. Consumer devices traditionally have been designed for personal use and not designed to be rugged or used in harsh environments. A pocketsized device would be most convenient for an application like Law Enforcement, but must be able to maintain its reliability with drops, scratches, and varying temperatures. One device well-suited for this environment is the Honeywell Dolphin 70e Black Smartphone. The Dolphin Black weighs about 7 ounces, designed with a super-thin, pocketable form factor and tougher than a commercial-grade phone. This rugged device has an IP rating of 67 (waterproof), Gorilla-glass display and works well in cold weather. The styling of this unit meets the consumerization device trends of today, with features and functions that work well in a multitude of harsh environments. It operates on either Android or Windows operating systems, can collect data from a PDF bar code and capture an image or signature using a built-in 2D imager. Bring on the Data. Connecting hardware with a software application will deliver information to the device. This application enables Law Enforcement and other public sector agencies to culminate mass amounts of data and utilize it to make Officers on patrol more independent and empowered. It would effectively extend access to critical information to Officers on patrol as well as to neighboring precincts and other government agencies. The homegrown applications that some agencies are L-Tron has found a way to design an economic solution with the strength of a multi-million dollar system to deliver the information public safety Officers require. developing today are costing millions of dollars to create. CrimeView, created by The Omega Group, brings together enhanced data services, crime analytics, crime mapping and high visualization dashboard technologies into a single solution from the cloud. Available for the iphone, ipad, Android smartphones and tablets, the CrimeView NEARme app utilizes the GPS signal of the device to present an Officer-centered interactive map display on which incident activity, persons-of-interest and other relevant data within a specified proximity of their current location can be viewed. Mission Planning & Execution Tools for Proactive Policing Omega s CrimeView Dashboard & CrimeView NEARme mobile solutions now enable law enforcement agencies to: Better identify crime priorities Design tactical missions to address those priorities Execute missions with fewer resources, risks to Officers & costs Better understand the ROI on missions executed A key attribute of this application is the ability to display data in an intuitive format to allow for ease of use for the Officers on patrol. With little time to spare, having an intuitive device that can display the information clearly will further increase productivity. Utilizing a cloud-based application also makes the device secure. When using a device like the Dolphin 70e Black, no data exists on the device itself, but the system would allow for remote management to upgrade, update, run diagnostics and more. For security purposes, once it goes into sleep mode, no data would be available until the user logged back in. 4

5 Safety Is Job One The ability to conduct analytics in real-time is something that up until now was too out of reach. Allowing Officers on the street to take advantage of available technology means they will be better informed, the integrity of the data will be improved and Officers, as well as their communities will be safer. Mobile devices have helped with record management systems and cloud-based data management in field service applications; making data directly available to the front lines vs. going through dispatch. Prior to electronic ticketing, there was a high volume of dismissed tickets due to errors the result being lost revenue for local Law Enforcement agencies who are already seeing budget and staffing cuts of 3-7% per year. With e-citation processes in place, the next step is maintaining accuracy and utilizing available data in mapping applications to better inform Officers on the beat. There are few, if any, drawbacks to moving forward with a solution that will better utilize big data. Making better use of data will provide longlasting benefits in performance, security and growth. The majority of jurisdictions that are dabbling in cleaning up the big data effort are writing their own programs, but at costs that far exceed most annual budgets. However, it is possible to take commercial technology and drive it inexpensively given the right tools. Summary Large municipalities are spending millions of dollars annually to analyze, filter and display data. Giving front line Officers, supervisors and detectives access to this data can improve public safety and situational awareness of the Officer; it could save money, and most importantly, save lives. A cloudbased solution for managing this data increases efficiencies resulting in a safer community. With cloud-based access to the RMS, Police Officers don t need to rely solely on dispatch, or lookups which focus on a single database; they can have access to all of the information which pertains to them. Today we use our tablets and smartphones to display data which is easily interpreted on maps. Extending the same type of functionality to Law Enforcement Officers means they will no longer go into situations blindly; they will be able to display outstanding warrants, domestic violence, gun charges, stolen vehicles, high-risk sex offenders, arrests or incidents at any address. As exciting as technology of enablement is, another key feature is how inexpensive a cloud-based RMS can be. The ROI is extremely high. Using hardware like the Dolphin 70e Black will decrease the amount of administrative time Officers use dealing with damaged equipment. The ability to scan and download information on ID s and licenses improves accuracy and speeds up data entry. Using cloudbased applications reduce capital outlays and speed up the rollout and adoption of technology in the field. For years L-Tron has been working with the public sector to improve the way they collect data, including the ability to reduce training time, make it easy to use and even easier to utilize the data being collected. The result is smarter Law Enforcement agencies serving safer and more secure communities. Interested in Learning More? L-Tron Corporation specializes in providing solutions for a wide selection of patrol vehicle equipment, including thermal printers; mounting equipment and console systems; rugged laptops, tablets and mobile computers; sealed keyboards and more. Contact us today at to: Learn more about Law Enforcement applications and the 4910LR bar code scanner or Dolphin 70e Black Schedule a complimentary consultation of your public sector work flow process L-Tron Corporation 596 Fishers Station Drive - Suite 1A, Victor, NY Phone: / Fax: info@l-tron.com www. L-Tron.com 2013 L-Tron Corporation. All rights reserved. 5

6 From Paper & Pen to Cloud-Based Data Management Whitepaper S o u r c e s 1. Electronic Traffic Tickets in Indiana, Indiana Courts, 2. Predictive Policing What We Can Learn from Wal-Mart and Amazon about Fighting Crime in a Recession, Police Chief Magazine, New Tool for Police Officers: Records at Their Fingertips, New York Times, April NYPD Developing App for Officers with Crime Scene Data and Criminal Records, New York Daily News, April Cook County, Ill. Tries E-Ticketing for Traffic Violations, County-Ill-Tries-E-Ticketing-for-Traffic-Violations.html 6. The Impact of the Economic Downturn on American Police Agencies, U.S. Department of Justice, October The Omega Group,