Altoona Police Department needed in-car fixed-mounted computing technology to ensure officers could access data from the county-wide CAD upgrade in real-time while remaining safe during highspeed interactions.
Altoona police department is one of 15 departments within Blair County, PA. The department’s previous in-car information solution needed to be refreshed. It was outdated and not compatible with the department’s upgraded CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch System).
With their previous CAD system, the department relied on a wireless mesh system. Still, it was only reliable if the police cars were within the geographical range of an antenna. The most significant challenge officers faced while accessing data was data transference. This meant that a cruiser moving at 60 miles an hour may not be able to successfully receive essential data because it is dependent on the level and speed of the switches. The closer a police cruiser was to the antenna, the stronger the signal was. The farther away the cruiser was from the antenna, the weaker the signal was.
Once the CAD system upgrades were underway, the other police departments in Blair County decided to do a county-wide computer configuration utilizing one solution provider. This would ensure that all departments in the county were equipped to maximize the benefits of the new CAD system and had access to real-time data and ROI. As each chief agreed to the type of solution, they began evaluating their specific use- computing and mounting needs – the chosen vendor would need to be able to meet the computing requirements of all the police departments within Blair County.
After the Altoona Police Department conducted thorough research and looked at multiple vendors, Getac’s F110 and S410 were chosen as the solution of choice for Blair County’s 15 departments and 64 police cruisers. Getac became their recommended solution thanks to the stated industry-leading B2B warranty, ruggedness, mil-spec + IP ratings, configurable options, engineering capabilities, service, and support.
The departments have seen improved efficiency while officers are out on patrol. Officers no longer need to go back to the station to do paperwork. They can now do it from the car immediately after an incident instead of relying on scribbled notes and memory. In turn, officers are now more visible in public because they spend less time at the station doing paperwork and spending more time on enforcement-related activities, promoting a sense of safety within the community.
The Getac System Architect worked very closely with the IT department, which differentiates Getac service and support from our competitors beyond the product’s reliability. They were instrumental in helping the department ensure the barcode reader could communicate with their Tracks software. In terms of failure rate, It’s less than 1%.
With their new Getac devices, dispatchers and 911 operators can now record and prioritize calls, record incident calls, identify the status and location of officers in the field, and effectively dispatch the needed personnel to respond to emergency situations.
Altoona Police Department
Altoona police department is one of 15 departments within Blair County, PA.
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