The decision to build your own customized in-house software or to buy commercial off the shelf software (COTS) is challenging. This infographic identifies factors that should be considered before making such a tough decision. Know the facts to reduce your risk and make an informed decision.
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Some federal programs give responder agencies money, goods, or training to further their stated mission. Others, like the Cooperative Purchasing Program put forth by the General Services Administration (GSA), allow the same organizations to benefit from federal spending power, giving them greater flexibility in when, where, and how their dollars are ultimately spent. Highly useful overall, this option may be of particular value where technology purchases are concerned.
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Productivity. Finances. A happy public. These things are often impeded by ad hoc technical infrastructure — computer systems built in piecemeal fashion, as needed. But the fix is surprisingly simple.
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Cellular phone technology has fundamentally changed the way people communicated since it hit the mass market in 1984, and its effects on overall public safety were nearly as dramatic. Today’s public safety agencies utilize mobile devices better and in more ways than ever, but that does not negate the unique challenges they pose — especially for personnel in the law enforcement and corrections fields.
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Unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones, have gained a somewhat unsavory reputation, both for their ability to enable such illicit behavior as prison smuggling and for the extreme difficulty lawmakers face in effectively legislating their use. From “lawful” behavior with gaping loopholes to clear-cut illegality, here’s what agencies need to know about the ever-popular device class — and what they can do to defend against them.
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Last year, the Houston Police Department did something no department of its size had before: allowed officers to train for and — at their own cost — purchase red dot sights for their service weapons. Following this (and similar changes in the civilian firearms world), will the rest of law enforcement follow suit?
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Initially conceived as an opportunity for state public safety training academies to share information on training management practices, the Acadis Readiness Summit in Edneyville, N.C., bloomed into an event of national significance in its field.
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Once the domain of federal agencies and major software vendors, centralized regional databases have become a growing trend among small and midsized agencies since 9/11: powerful, cloud-based tools designed to track a variety of criminal justice, strategic, and administrative data. While not without challenges, the technology offers great promise to organizations with neighbors willing to participate.
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The arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer drew mass fanfare—but the methods used to get there have been the subject of substantial criticism. The “DNA profiling” technique at the core of the controversy has a long way to go before widespread adoption, and the courts will likely decide its future.
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As a combined industry, agencies providing emergency response services have enjoyed a long, fruitful history of technological innovation. Today, four contemporary advancements underscore just how much these organizations stand to benefit when tools are adapted to their specific needs and challenges.
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