|
According to findings of a national survey of 200 public safety officials and first responders by Motorola and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, the ability to respond to a natural disaster is the top concern of 65 percent of the officials, far surpassing crime and terrorism concerns.
Interest in New Technology
Advanced capabilities such as satellite tracking technology, automatic license plate recognition and biometrics solutions are high on the wish list of public safety officials, with more than 40 percent expressing a desire for the new technologies.
Highest interest in adopting new technologies:
Use of Existing Technology
For existing technology, communications topped the list of needs, along with mapping technology.
“We still have to get good communications on our everyday fires and our bread and butter things,” said Peter Burke, Chief of the Swansea, Mass., Fire Department. “Good communications is very important whether it be the calls you go to everyday or one in a lifetime calls, like for natural disasters.”
Among nine different types of technologies measured, communities are most likely to use:
Importance of Communications Technology
The importance of technology specific to communication is underscored by the officials’ funding priorities. Given a hypothetical funding increase for their departments, public safety officials on average would spend more of the money on communication technology as on additional training, and nearly as much as on additional personnel.
While better communications was the popular choice (19 percent) as the greatest benefit of advanced technology, it was also seen as the area in greatest need of improvement, cited by 30 percent of respondents.
“Our whole police department is dependent on wireless communications with laptops. We wouldn’t be able to operate if it wasn’t for that,” said Mike Helms, Director of Sports Services and Police Technology for West Melbourne, Fla.
The survey included fire and police personnel, EMTs and government officials in urban, suburban and rural areas, providing a snapshot of needs for a cross-section of America.
 |
