In 1997, the Prosecutor's Office of Burlington County, N.J. began implementing the Burlington County Integrated Law Enforcement Computer Project to help them execute a truly effective community policing program. The project is a multi-jurisdictional computer network linking 34 public safety agencies, allowing small agencies within the county to benefit from a premier information system they otherwise could not afford. Burlington County is the first agency to implement a system of this magnitude - networking 32 police departments, the sheriff's office and the prosecutor's office.
Burlington County spent two and a half years conceptualizing the system that would help institute community policing by allowing officers to spend more time in the community to build a relationship with citizens, and encourage citizens to volunteer in programs such as DARE, Abuse Education and Crime Prevention seminars. Due to the community policing initiative, Burlington County was awarded a $2.7 million Community Oriented Policing Services - Making Officer Redeployment Effective (COPS MORE) grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This was the largest grant received by any one law enforcement agency in New Jersey.
The goal was to use technology to increase law enforcement's chance of protecting citizens, while trying to reduce and prevent the continuance of crime through information sharing countywide. The DOJ has cited nationally on several occasions that Burlington County is a model for other agencies to follow, because many law enforcement computer systems available in the market are not equipped to effectively communicate and share information with peer agencies.
System Requirements
The county began researching integrated Mobile Computing and Records Management systems to provide their officers real-time access to files on a subject, location or property, helping support decision making while in the field as well as input critical information without having to return to the station. The software also needed to provide officers with access to State/NCIC. After extensive research, it also became apparent that in order to fully optimize Records Management and Mobile Computing, they needed an integrated CAD with intelligent mapping. Since the majority of incidents begin when a 911 call is received, it made sense to have a complete integrated solution.
When the final list of qualified vendors was compiled, the county formed the Computer Technical Advisory Sub-Committee to make a decision. The committee analyzed the responses to the request for information, financial stability, references and technical staffing of the vendors. After significant research, they unanimously voted for New World Systems.
They felt New World's fully integrated Aegis software would enhance productivity and streamline the process of entering and accessing timecritical information. It would also allow Burlington County to standardize communications and reporting for law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies.
"New World was chosen, because the other public safety vendors could not handle multi-jurisdictional implementations or Burlington County's diverse integration," said John P. Butler, C.P.A, Burlington County, N.J.
System Implementation
In August 2000, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics (SEARCH), commissioned by the COPS office, evaluated the status of the Burlington County's project and recommended that the county hire a full-time, dedicated staff to provide services and support to agencies countywide to help achieve full implementation. The County invested in a team, the Public Safety Information Technology Group (PSITG), to support the project full-time.
"The challenge we faced was the users had a system they liked before we switched to New World, but it just didn't have the functionality to grow with us and allow us to implement our project," said Burlington County Public Safety Director Joseph Saiia, who is also the supervisor of PSITG. "The change was hard for the users, but today they are comfortable with the system, and we are happy with the project."
PSITG consists of three public safety officials, Daniel Ingling, Donna Hornyak and Richard Zuvich. Daniel Ingling, an officer for twelve years at the Westampton Township Police Department, joined the team after helping implement the system at his department. He is now a detective with the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, and serves as the technology liaison to the law enforcement agencies in the county.
"We've found that the agencies who have leaders that made a commitment to the project are utilizing the system successfully," said Jeff Johnson, supervisor. "Considering the number of agencies that are implementing the system, the project has gone very well."
Burlington County Public Safety Integration
The Burlington County police departments are uniquely integrated, which has been a challenging aspect of the project. A majority of the municipalities run their CAD and Records software from the main server at the Burlington County Central Communications Facility, allowing for true regional data sharing among agencies and helping officers make more informed decisions and solve cases.
New World's web-enabled Regional Data Sharing application builds the bridge over the gap of information sharing," said Butler. "Information from each of the municipalities will be available countywide using a browser." "Information sharing has been the most productive benefit," said Saiia. "It saves the prosecutor's office time, because agencies have access to all records and they don't have to contact the central office for information."
Conclusion
"After two and a half years of inputing data, the benefits are clear to everyone," said Ingling. "We can run more accurate statistical reports, and access information on persons who move frequently about the community." Overall, the County feels that the software has helped improve the way agencies serve their constituents.
New World was chosen based on their product capabilities and, because of its longevity, stability and success, which gives Burlington County confidence in their choice.
"The Company continues to enhance current products and develop new products, showing us that they are proactive in keeping up with technology," said Butler.
