You are in:
- Back Issues » 2007 » February
Driving through changes - with automatic vehicle location
Suffolk Constabulary is utilising APD’s Inca Automatic Vehicle Loacation System (AVLS) to make the most of its despatching procedures...
Suffolk is a large county, mainly rural with a population of approximately 0.6 million inhabitants. Suffolk Constabulary employs 1700 police officers, special constables, police community support officers (PCSOs) and police staff, handling over 150,000 incidents annually.
The national implementation of Airwave and subsequent organisational changes meant that Forces had the opportunity of reviewing many of their standard procedures. Suffolk Constabulary looked into assessing despatch procedures, in particular the possibility of improving response times to emergency calls and increasing the safety of their officers through location technology. The Airwave network was initially deployed for voice. However, Suffolk saw an opportunity to make the most of the digital network and decided to use it for data communications as well.
Vehicle location was selected as a useful additional tool for the force, helping not only identify the most appropriate officer near an incident, but also to know at all times where officers were. In order to achieve maximum benefit from the tracking capabilities, the mapping element of the system needed to be integrated to the Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) system from Intergraph, which was already being used by control room operators. This would allow operators to see the exact location of an incident on their screens as well as the location of nearby resources.
the solution
Based on its mobile data expertise, APD’s INCA™ Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS) was selected by Suffolk Constabulary. The force equipped its fleet of 200 patrol vehicles, including cars and motorbikes, with Motorola Airwave Radios and INCAs.
Working in four shifts, 50 operators ensure continuous coverage in the Ipswich control room, handling on average 500 incidents each day. When a call comes in, the operator views a single screen displaying the incident, the location of available officers and the status of those officers. Using the integrated AVL and CAD system, operators can now easily identify the nearest available patrol vehicle and despatch it to the location of the incident. Not only are officers despatched to incidents more promptly than before, but operators are able to focus on monitoring incident status and other tasks instead of spending time contacting officers via the radio.
Operators have also found the tracking solution to have uses that were not originally anticipated. New recruits who do not have local knowledge of all areas of Suffolk are now directed by the despatchers real-time on a street by street basis, providing very effective navigation functionality! This has also proved to be useful when officers are involved in pursuits.
All the information on location, speed and direction of travel is stored in a database. Should there be an enquiry as a result of a collision or complaint from the public, this information can be used to provide evidence on driver behaviour at the time of the incident.
the benefits
Improved service to the public: Incident despatch time has been improved, with faster response times and more efficient use of available resources.
Accurate accountability: Collision Investigators and Supervisors have made use of the reporting functionality, replaying journeys when officers are involved in collisions or accidents. The location system has made police staff more accountable and in several cases has protected the officers involved from false claims from the public.
Improved communication: The system has reduced demand on the busy control room by decreasing the number of unnecessary voice communications, such as ‘Where are you?’ and ‘Are you available to go to this incident?’
Officer safety: Officers feel safer in the knowledge that operators know where they are in case of danger or patrolling in an unsafe area.
Shortly after the INCA solution was implemented, an officer went missing for nearly 2 hours as he had lost radio coverage. Operators were able to establish his last known position using data retrieved from INCA and were able to send help to ensure that he was safe. By involving the Police Federation and Staff Associations and explaining the benefits of using such system (in particular the officer safety element) the force got buy-in from all stakeholders. This was a key stage in the successful
implementation process.
the future
Future plans of the Force are to explore more data applications using the Motorola GPS-enabled TETRA terminals, in particular to provide Automatic Personal Location. The INCA functionality will also be extended by linking other sensors such as bluelights, indicators and brake lights, to provide additional telemetry features.
