You are in your vehicle for the majority of your day when you work as a police officer or sheriff. The last thing you want is to be uncomfortable, or potentially be put in harm’s way due to equipment placement or failure. The IoT or Internet of Things is growing fast and with that, there are benefits to the law enforcement industry. Today we review ten reasons why technological advancement is working to improve public safety entities.
1. Equipment Placement
Keltek has been in the up-fitting industry for over 23 years, we know our customer base very well. One of the most important steps an up-fitter can take with a customer is going over equipment placement with their customer. Knowing personal preferences, and sometimes even pushing back on those – is what a team of experts will do.
Our Install Experts join online forums for up fitters and go through a vehicle audit with the customer before and after the build. We want to make sure equipment is placed in the most accessible and smart area for our clients.
2. Body Worn Cameras
Body Worn’s are a great way to keep evidence for officers when it comes to cases that go to court. You can avoid hear-say and get the facts in clear audio and visual format to display at proceedings if needed. Most models have a pre-record function that records and stores up to 30 seconds before the device is triggered.
These devices are becoming more affordable now that the value has been researched. Many private entities are working to help fund grants to get these much-needed cameras into more departments.
3. Telematics
Having insight into your vehicle’s inner diagnostics enables you or your department’s fleet manager, to catch potential engine, technical, or even staffing issues that may cause your fleet to perform less effectively. These telematics cover fuel usage, which carrier network your device utilizes most, to a coverage map of where your vehicle has been connected. To learn more about these nuances check out our blogs on fleet telemetry.
4. Triggered Equipment
With the right programming your patrol car’s light bars, sirens, in-car video, body-worn cameras, and more can all be triggered by set events. Installers are able to set up your in-car video to start recording when you grab your weapon from the gunlock and more helpful solutions. This is a huge benefit to officers who may be acting fast in a life or death situation.
5. Interconnecting Tech Devices
Connectivity can be a major roadblock if you are an officer in a rural community. Mobile Gateways are a great way to make sure your connected devices have a strong, secure network to pass information to and from. Unlike past solutions that cannot penetrate through concrete walls or into a building’s basement. Sierra Wireless has come up with Rugged Mobile Routers that have a great physical range of connectivity and also can connect over 100 devices to the same router.
6. Real-Time Data
A huge benefits technology has created for departments is the ability to access real-time data. EMS workers are able to access a patient’s history before even getting to the hospital. We see this being used daily in highway patrol or local law enforcement use of license scanners. Getting information before even reaching a scene is important to the safety of all involved.
Getac Video Solutions are able to give real-time video feeds to Getac Real-Time Command, allowing officers to share insight from one shift to the next.
7. In-Car Video
In-car video is an awesome way to catch any stashing of evidence or activity or speech by the passenger in the back. Although the main use of these cameras is to capture what is happening in front of the car, before, during, and after a traffic stop. The ability to get a 360º view of the vehicle is ideal for evidence capture and officer safety.
8. Remote Servicing
A time reducing mechanism technology has provided for the public safety industry is remote servicing and maintenance of equipment and technology. You are able to get remote updates to equipment, so you do not need to try and navigate this untrained. Also, any troubleshooting needs can be done remotely as well. Saving departments time and money when outsourcing IT services.
You will not incur costly travel fees from technicians or have one of your offices wasting time in his or her office as opposed to the patrol car.
9. Secure Data Transfers
Privacy and security are huge factors when it comes to evidence retention and overall data transfers in any industry. We’ve all played the game ‘telephone’ as a child and found how hear-say or even the repeating of a story can skew the concrete facts we were originally provided.
Your data should go from point A to point B, no in-between or third-party entities should be accessing this data. This proves tamper-proof information. Mobile routers and video systems now have this as a standard for equipment.
10. One Call Servicing
Product manufacturers now allow distributors to have their technicians learn from internal product experts, whether on-site or via web conferences. At KELTEK our sales and service teams carry many certificates on product knowledge and best practices.
If you chose to take advantage of any of these 10 technological tools to get your department up to speed, know if you chose KELTEK as your fleet up-fitter, you have only one call to make any time you hit a snag in your equipment’s performance. Contact us today to talk about how we can help you help your team.
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