Management, planning and control of municipal police patrol routes
There is currently no organised control of local beats in the municipal borough, a situation which can give rise to lack of cover in certain areas or an inadequate service in others. It was therefore thought necessary to develop a tool to help in the management of these patrols. Thanks to this application, the Council will have a control system based on GPS technology, combined with PDAs and providing real-time transmission of data. Each patrol vehicle will be equipped with a PDA and a GPS that will register the points along the vehicles route as it passes them, sending the data to a centralised control room via wireless applications (mobile telephone, radio-frequency, and so on). It will also be possible to automate other processes such as the taking of statements and reporting crime: when a patrol has to make a report on a crime or an other incident, they can insert the relevant data into the PDA and the information will be sent from this to the central control, along with the GPS data. In this way, investigative formalities can be initiated instantly, avoiding accumulation and duplication of work and enhancing working conditions for the members of the Municipal Police. Two phases,This project consists of two phases. In the first, each patrol will be equipped with a GPS, which has sufficient capacity to receive information about the points passed along the whole of the patrol route. Once the patrol is finished, the data from the GPS is downloaded onto a PC. A geographical representation (map) shows the route taken on the computer screen, points of interest passed and other parameters. The application also generates reports on the performance of and incidents during the patrols. Moreover, the system will help to improve punctuality both in coverage and in incident response. In the second phase, the use of PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants, hand-held computers) will be employed as an aid to tasks carried out by the Municipal Police, each patrol vehicle being equipped with one of these devices. Each PDA will have a GPS accessory to carry out route registration tasks and, thanks also to this system, notes, incidents, reports and other tasks can be made without the use of paper. All this data will be downloaded once the patrol has finished its route. Moreover, in order to avoid the drawback of being unable to analyse received data until such time as the patrol has terminated its route, data transmission in real time is being considered, whether by mobile telephone (GSM, GPRS or UMTS), or by radio-frequency using an exclusive radio channel. The project by Amorebieta-Etxano Town Council has a number of end aims: the enhancement of working conditions for the members of the Municipal Police (both in efficacy and performance as well as in personal safety and security), an increase in cover for the public by local patrols and, particularly, a improved control of the tasks of the Municipal Police. , ,The project does not intend to provide a solution to end-client management; rather it is an attempt to provide a flexible platform which will serve for future applications. The system proposed is not a costly one compared to other solutions based on mobile telephones, a point which will undoubtedly be of interest to other potential clients. The hardware used is standard in the market and easily accessible, as is the software, and so compatibility is assured. Security and response to faults in the system have also been taken into account. With all this, the project is focussed on being an open platform, adaptable to multiple functions.
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