Fresno Picks IBM For Emergency Communications Service

The City of Fresno, California, will deploy an emergency communications system designed and built by IBM (www.ibm.com) to deliver information on demand, with the goal of enhancing police effectiveness and coordination.

Initially covering the city, the system may serve as the foundation of a region-wide communications web linking numerous police, fire, ambulance and other first responder units, according to Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

The system, owned and operated by Fresno, is designed to allow officers to send and receive text, images and videos via "in-vehicle" computers and handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs); and provide the backbone for an emerging technological capability referred to as "video policing."

The system is designed to allow police officers and headquarters to communicate during traffic stops, while patrolling the streets on foot, while conducting criminal investigations and while moving through and around buildings.

The chief said it will also help police safeguard the city's critical infrastructure, several federal installations including a strategic wing of the Air National Guard, the Federal Courthouse and part of the nearly $2.8 billion dollars in agricultural products the area produces each year.

Fresno's Chief Dyer said, "Although this capability will certainly be used to enhance Homeland Security in Fresno, its most important contribution is in making the community safer from everyday crime related to gangs, substance abuse and recidivist offenders."

Fresno anticipates that the system will enable police offers to dispense "e-tickets" for speeding and other infractions, according to Chief Dyer.

Designed with expansion in mind, the network will employ a microwave transmission capability funded by a grant from the federal Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) obtained for the Police Department by Fresno's Mayor Alan Autry.

The microwave network could serve as a common communications infrastructure for the region's local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, which now have incompatible communications systems.

"To optimize the effectiveness of our law enforcement professionals, we need to enhance their ability to access and use information in an efficient and timely fashion. The system provides the 'communication backbone' that will allow all of our personnel to do so and to make informed decisions more quickly."

IBM will also enable broadband wireless communication for the computer terminals in Fresno's 250 police cruisers. In the future, Fresno expects to extend the capability to police motorcycles, detective vehicles and helicopters. These new vehicle-based systems will be able to communicate with the handheld devices and with police headquarters.

The solution relies on IBM's WebSphere Everyplace Connection Manager, scalable communications software that optimizes bandwidth; enables cross-network roaming; encrypts data; and integrates networks, server hardware, device operating systems, and mobile security protocols.

"Next generation communications technologies can substantially increase the cohesion and investigative abilities of law enforcement personnel, while helping to provide for the safety of officers and the public," said Kent Blossom, director of emerging business opportunities, IBM.

With a population of about 456,000, Fresno is located in California's Central Valley and is a noted center of agriculture and manufacturing. A designated Port of Entry, Fresno is a key distribution point for many products entering the United States.