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wESTCHESTER Doit
projects
Westchester County and the Department of Information Technology work tirelessly to improve the safety net that protects county residents in the event of an emergency. Working with local, state and federal officials, County government has spent millions of dollars to improve emergency preparedness plans, train volunteers and professionals, upgrade communications systems and add new equipment and technologies. A brief summary of Westchester County security and safety measure can be found by clicking here. The following DoIT projects focus on enhancing public safety in Westchester County through the use of innovative technologies:
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The Department of Public Safety is the first law enforcement agency in Westchester to begin electronically producing tickets using TRACs (Traffic and Criminal Software), the computer application for a statewide electronic traffic ticket and accident report project. Several local municipalities are expected to follow suit over the next few months. State police have been using the system for about a year.
“We are
excited to be among the first to use this new technology. Our priority is
to improve public safety – and this program will do just that,” County
Executive Andy Spano
said. “Tickets will be processed more quickly and efficiently and
motorists will spend less time sitting on the side of a road. For their
part, the police will be able to get back on the road more quickly and
continue enforcing the laws.” The primary purpose of establishing this vital broadband network is to provide a secure, high-speed wireless data connection at the scene of an emergency incident. It is being used between first responders, subject matter experts, and incident managers for day-to-day public safety issues, as well as homeland security incidents. DoIT understands the benefits of steering away from antiquated technologies and moving toward cutting-edge solutions. This network applies 802.11-like protocols and TCP/IP, as well as 2.4 GHz and the recently licensed 4.9 GHz spectrum. These state-of-the-art technologies provide efficient use of spectrum and allow interoperability by permitting the County to extend public safety and other emergency resources of the County, State and national governments to nearly any incident within the County. This network serves as an excellent model of interoperable emergency communications for the entire country. It satisfies most, if not all requirements of emergency incident response and enhances and assures public safety for the citizens of Westchester County. One of the greatest challenges facing public safety agencies is the ability to manage, analyze and share vital information horizontally with other agencies and vertically with other levels of government. Westchester County’s Department of Information Technology (DoIT) has met that challenge by developing an innovative investigative tool known as the Shared Criminal Justice Data Warehouse. Filling a communications gap within the criminal justice community, this system allows local law enforcement agencies around the County to exchange critical data via a friendly web-based system. A growing number of local and state users, including the New York State Police Department and New York State Division of Parole, can now quickly search through over a million data entries from agencies throughout the County to track down suspects and get them off the street. The database includes records from local and county police, the county jail and probation departments, as well as pistol permits and taxi and limousine records. There is a growing demand for GIS services used in public safety and emergency response. Better maps that can be instantly called up by emergency service dispatchers cut the the time it takes for an ambulance or fire truck to reach a call for help. In addition to daily support for the mapping component of the 911 system, GIS staff is responsible for maintaining public access and web mapping applications for the Indian Point Emergency Evacuation Plan, as well as both desktop and web-enabled applications for the Emergency Operations Center. Staff is also required to support third-party software packages which are interfaced with the GIS including VRisk, DCC, and CATS/HPAC. The entire program area involves extensive spatial data development and maintenance for critical facilities such as schools, camps, government buildings, day care facilities, police/fire stations, and hospitals. This GIS program area involves public health issues such as the West Nile Virus and natural disasters including floods, hurricanes, severe snowfalls, and ice storms.
More GIS public safety projects... Recognized with a 2005 NACo Achievement Award, this system coordinates field care by tracking individuals in the unlikely event of a chemical, biological, or nuclear emergency. The system is capable of tracking the individual's symptoms, vaccination or antibiotic administration, release status, and even hospital referrals. And since the program helps locate individuals at various mass care reception centers, loved ones will be located more quickly.
A system that integrates daily emergency room and other clinical data from all hospitals in the county each night and applies statistical analyses to identify unusual patterns, which are then reported to the Health Commissioner each morning. CHESS was recently recognized as “Best in Category (IT)” by NACo in its annual Achievement Award Program.
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