Solutions for Security

Like today’s high tech businesses, homeland security agencies -- such as police and fire departments, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) bureaus, and military installations -- thrive on information. And while quick and easy access to information is important in the modern business world, it can be critical to a successful public safety operation. Indeed, the ability to access data items such as police reports, suspect profiles, building blueprints, city plans, and medical records, is a fundamental requirement for responding to emergency situations.

Until recently, information was gathered by agents in the field and transmitted to colleagues via paper reports. Now, of course, computers have taken over nearly all data collection and storage duties. Today, technologies such as in-car Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) have allowed public safety agents to access only limited amounts of information because most public safety wireless networks currently operate on a slow 9.6-28.8 Kbps connection. This means that access to large amounts of data is precluded, and the ability to use typical office applications, like word processing and database programs, are severely limited. So while the information age has ushered in tangible improvements in public safety, broadband mobile access to the department LAN while in the field just hasn’t been possible.

But mobile wireless broadband is changing that. Indeed, true mobile broadband computing has emerged as the next great weapon in the public safety officer’s arsenal. And, in fact, reliable, easy, and quick access to data for homeland defense professionals has become critical. From mobile email, Voice over IP (VoIP) auxiliary phones, and blueprint transmission, to electronic transmission of arrest records, tear sheets, and two-way video, broadband connections to homeland security vehicles are changing the face of modern public safety and law enforcement.

Wireless Broadband Mobile Systems: Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Public Safety

Today’s law enforcement agencies are faced with increasing operational costs, a massive flood of crime information, and the need to increase efficiency. Wireless mobile broadband systems are extremely effective in helping to resolve these issues. Perhaps the most important way in which they help to improve homeland security is that they can increase the amount of time patrol officers spend on the street by offering efficient access to paperwork processing and office-related functions from within department patrol vehicles. Indeed, the deployment of a high-speed wireless link between patrol car MDCs and department networks creates a mobile office for patrol officers. This itinerant office features the same high-speed network connectivity that is available from department desktop computers, and affords patrol officers with vehicle-based access to file and print services, intranet/internet access, and e-mail capabilities.

The convenient networking access, and subsequent improved communications abilities, created through broadband wireless access greatly reduces the amount of time public safety officers spend performing paperwork duties and, in turn, increases the amount of time they spend on the street. Without wireless network connection, a patrol officer has to transfer data to and from department desktops and vehicle computers with floppy disks, and has to find an available department desktop to do so -- no easy task at times. But with a wireless system, patrol officers connect to their department’s network from within their vehicles, and can immediately access file and print services to upload and print reports and exchange emails with their departments. This reduces the amount of time officers spend at their station and thereby allows more time on the street fighting crime.

A wireless link between the patrol car MDC and the department network also dramatically improves both the quantity and quality of data available to officers while they are on patrol. Without a wireless broadband connection, this data is only available to patrol officers in the form of black and white, written documents – documents that inconvenience officers due to the sheer volume of paper they occupy, and that, for the same reason, cannot be used effectively in a mobile environment. Searching through these reports to retrieve specific information is a time-consuming process and relies on the patrol officers’ ability to remember details he or she may have read in the distant past. Poor black and white photographs that are explicated via text descriptions also reduce the ability to recognize related objects, people, and vehicles while on the street.

By contrast, a wireless mobile broadband connection provides deputies with access to federal, state, and local crime databases, departmental briefing folders, and crime report summary downloads while in their vehicles. In fact, a wireless system works such that when logging in, patrol vehicle MDCs are synchronized and updated with current department briefing folders and crime report summaries. This data is available for review by patrol officers at any time and is also available for detailed reference when needed. Because the MDC enjoys a broadband connection, data provided in these reports can be rich in content and can contain items such as color photographs, improving the ability of the patrol officers to recognize wanted vehicles and other important items while in the field. Moreover, a broadband connection also allows for enhanced search capabilities that retrieve specific identifying information from synchronized crime reports, allowing officer to determine if crimes similar to those they are investigating have recently been committed. The patrol officers are also able to determine if specific people, license tag numbers, or addresses have been recently mentioned in reports.

In addition to realizing substantial improvements in the amount of time their officers spend on the street, public safety departments can also see large reductions in the cost of IT maintenance for patrol vehicle MDCs through the use of the wireless mobile broadband equipment. Through wireless technology, the ability to perform bulk software downloads and updates eliminates the need to individually upgrade each vehicle, thereby keeping fleets in service, improving IT staff efficiency, and reducing maintenance problems. Indeed, simple, routine, IT maintenance tasks, such as updating virus scan definitions, can be a nightmare when the coordination of garage visits for tens of hundreds of patrol vehicles is taken into account. Without wireless technology, floppy disks with software updates must be distributed to patrol officers, or vehicles must be dismissed from service so that maintenance can be performed. But in today’s environment, such updates often must be performed weekly, or even daily in some cases. With wireless equipment, the ability to remotely perform bulk software downloads and updates via broadband wireless connections eliminates the need to upgrade each vehicle at department headquarters, thereby keeping fleets in service, improving IT staff efficiency, and reducing maintenance problems.

Wireless connectivity using bridging equipment has also allowed public safety organizations to set up, maintain, and effectively utilize remote offices without the prohibitively large expense of providing wireline access. These offices are the result of expansion and the desire to operate “storefronts” in all communities served. Wireless broadband bridging equipment is perfect for such applications. This equipment may be set up in a matter of a few hours and usually pays for itself in a few months. For example many police departments have taken to setting up manned locations in the midst of typically high crime areas, such as shopping malls. These locations can be easily and inexpensively deployed using a wireless feed to provide data and voice services, thereby decreasing total costs to the city for improved public safety.

Deploying a Wireless Mobile Broadband Solution

A successful homeland security wireless mobile broadband solution requires a deployment with an adequate range of coverage; mobile, rugged, and reliable equipment; dependable communications links; support for standards-based IP networking; secure, encrypted transmissions; and support for multi-agency infrastructure sharing. They typically work in parallel with other communication networks, where wireless mobile broadband cells are installed in the locations frequently visited by the patrol officers, such as court house parking lots or civic parking structure. These strategic areas area called hotspots. Hotspots allow for semi- itinerate broadband connectivity, since offers must pull into them to obtain high-speed access. Areas that are not visited as often are served by standard CDPD connections for data and low capacity 800 MHz radios for voice.

In a more mature network, CDPD portions of the network are completely replaced by wireless mobile broadband through point-to-point connections that create citywide coverage. Here, the kind of wireless radios used become particularly important because citywide coverage can only be achieved with Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) technology. FHSS radios are designed to jump through all available channels in the license free spectrum, so a city can overlap radios to ensure coverage from multiple cells. As a result, public safety officers can connect from almost anywhere in their municipalities. Indeed, it is impossible to create multiple overlapping radio cells with other types of wireless technologies – technologies that feature direct sequence radio systems.

Moreover, FHSS technology is critical to the security of a homeland security wireless broadband system. Indeed, when discussing the ability to use a broadband radio signal to feed public safety applications, security issues become paramount. After all, confidential and critical city information must remain protected, and wireless networks can be particularly vulnerable to hacking. A majority of fixed and mobile wireless broadband access products are based on direct sequence radio technologies, such as 802.11b. While these products can efficiently transfer large amounts of data, and in that sense represent a true broadband solution, they remain problematic with regard to the level of security they offer. This is because direct sequence radios use only a few fixed channels to transfer data across the network. Consequently, they lack the ability to deviate without intervention via IS staff, making the network much more vulnerable to attack since they are set to transmit on a constant set of channels.

By contrast, FHSS technology is designed to work in war-like environments and provide secure transport of all communications and documents. In a frequency hopping network, radio signals are always changing in a pseudorandom fashion, so the ability to intercept them is made much more difficult. As a result, these systems offer a layer of security not available with direct sequence technology. In addition, there is no free downloadable hacking software available on the web today that will work on frequency hopping systems. Wireless cracking software such as Air Snort, AiroPeek, WEP Crack, and NetStumbler cannot crack a frequency hopping network.

Towards the Future

Once a wireless broadband network is in place, many cutting edge public safety applications become possible. These applications typically take advantage of multimedia and video data streams that further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement. For example, video feeds from patrol vehicles to dispatch can be established. To date, video captured by vehicle cameras is simply recorded, making it useful only after an emergency situation. But by enhancing video with a wireless mobile broadband network, dispatch may monitor difficult situations in the field and also provide an additional pair of eyes.

Similarly, video from field locations can be fed to patrol vehicles. Almost all high security areas have video cameras, many of which are IP-based or can be made so inexpensively. Coupling wireless mobile broadband with a secure technology, such as a Virtual Private Network, allows officers in the field to watch video streams from these cameras in real time, which can garner an enormous benefit in a panoply of emergency circumstances, like bank robberies and hostage situations.

Finally, once a wireless mobile broadband infrastructure covers significant portions of a municipality, other applications like real time traffic monitoring and ticketing via video come closer to reality. Moreover, other public safety services, such as fire protection and EMS, may also use the system for access to blueprints and medical imaging & telemetry.

Ultimately, then, wireless mobile broadband offers the next great leap forward in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of our public safety professionals. It achieves this objective by providing officers in the street with mobile access to high capacity data in real-time, and extending department computing resources to the field.

But beyond helping to bridge the digital divide, wireless broadband achieves communications goals cost-effectively. This is critical, given the fact that many government agencies are facing the daunting task of handing increased responsibilities with shrinking budgets. Police chiefs, IT directors, and government agencies are under pressure to limit spending and reduce staff, but to do so while keeping up with modern technological advancements. Broadband wireless technology can help them to accomplish these goals because wireless data networks provide immediate and dramatic cost savings and a high return on investment. By simply enabling officers to wirelessly complete reports while on the street, a city can considerably decrease the amount of time its public safety personnel spend in their offices. While this eases time constraints on officers and makes their jobs easier to do, it also leads to reduced labor costs. Extra shifts can be eliminated, and the number of officers necessary to adequately staff a given area can be reduced. Plus, police IT staff can reduce the costs and time associated with keeping their networks healthy and updated. And, of course, the elimination of recurring wireless telecommunications costs through the deployment of wireless systems allows public safety agencies to redirect budget allocations to programs that need increased funding.

In the end, broadband wireless systems can provide homeland security professionals with the tools they need to meet the increasing demands of modern operations. In improving officer efficiency, emergency response, and time management, wireless broadband access is bringing the promise of high-tech communications to modern law enforcement.

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