Two law enforcement agencies use technology to better manage and share data.

Summary:

In public safety, there’s no substitute for having key information at the right time. Whether it’s a suspect’s criminal history, a photo or data on a crime trend, having instant access to current information is critical. That also goes for people working in justice, homeland security and emergency management.

Officers in patrol cars, firefighters, investigators working a case — they all need to act quickly and confidently. When people know they have all the latest information, they can be more confident in their decisions. But too often in the past, critical information was stuck in disparate systems that couldn’t communicate with one another. With today’s technology, however, those information silos can be eliminated.

New technologies have greatly enabled real-time situational awareness. Fusion centers, real-time crime centers and information analysis centers enable information sharing, analysis and dissemination in ways that weren’t possible a few years ago. These centers bring critical data together from numerous sources. They also place the data in front of analysts and investigators who understand what to do with it. So officers and first responders in the field know that the best information, the best people and the best technologies are working together to help them be efficient and safe.