Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New system will track squad cars by computer

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:35:29 -0400

New system will track squad cars by computer
A device in sheriff's cars will make it easier to assist deputies on patrol,
shortening response time when emergencies arise.
By DUANE BOURNE, Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times
published August 20, 2003

BROOKSVILLE - Back when technology was not integrated into law enforcement, 911
dispatchers were prone to asking: "Car 54, what's your 20?" In cop talk, that
means where are you? But in a few months, that question will no longer be heard on
police radio broadcasts. Instead, keeping track of officers will be become easier
thanks to a small device mounted in the trunks of squad cars. Called an Automatic
Vehicle Locator, or AVL, the computer-controlled device and its software enables
dispatchers to see where deputies are in "real time," Hernando County Sheriff
Richard Nugent said. The software, which utilizes global positioning satellites,
allows dispatchers to find the closest unit to an emergency, reducing response
time. Under the current system, 911 dispatchers at the Sheriff's Office are
required to make contact with several units to determine which is closest to the
emergency.

The same is true if officers themselves are in an emergency, Nugent added. If a
deputy is involved in a physical altercation and activates the emergency button in
their squad car or portable radio, there was no way for dispatchers to know where
back-up should respond. With the automatic vehicle locator, dispatchers canhome in
on the deputy's signal by watching the blip on a computer screen and coordinating
a response.

The project comes at a time when the Sheriff's Office is anticipating a $280,000
budget surplus and when advances in technology have rendered modems obsolete."The
modems we have in our laptops will not function next year," Nugent told the County
Commission at its meeting on Aug. 12.

In recent years, the County Commission has criticized Nugent's burgeoning budgets,
which have grown to $20-million for this current fiscal year. But this time,
Nugent assured them that taxpayers won't foot the bill. He also said that the
tracking system will be beneficial if the county chooses to unify its dispatch
centers.

Replacing the old modems with the automatic vehicle locator software will cost
$210,000. Without the AVL software, new modems would cost $170,000.

"The additional $40,000 now solves a lot of problems in keeping track of where our
folks are," Nugent had said.
The remaining $70,000 from the surplus will be spent equipping 200 patrol deputies
with the Advanced Taser M26, an 18-ounce black gun that projects tiny electrodes.

Since December, bailiffs at the courthouse and supervising officers have been
"road-testing" the Tasers. The battery-operated device has proved an effective
alternative to deadly force, Nugent said. The Tasers cost $750 a piece.
"This is an issue of safety for deputies," Nugent said.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/20/Hernando/New_system_will_track.shtml

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