PRESS RELEASE DETAIL
For release: IMMEDIATELY
Release Date: 05/26/2016
Mayor Holden Launches Public Safety Platform to Coordinate Near Real-Time Response Efforts
Mayor Holden Launches Public Safety Platform to Coordinate Near Real-Time Response Efforts across Metro Area Partners
Interactive digital mapping platform provides single source of critical information for situational awareness, coordination, communication, and analytics across public safety agencies
This morning, Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden was joined by Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr. and other City-Parish officials for a press conference to launch the City-Parish’s new interactive digital mapping platform that consolidates various public safety-related data inputs, streams, and analytics into one central map-based environment – known as the Baton Rouge Public Safety Common Operational Platform, or PSCOP. The initiative, which has been under development for more than a year, functions as a collaborative effort between the Department of Information Services, the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and the Baton Rouge Police Department, for which the technology is currently being piloted.
“In emergency situations, a delay in response time of minutes or even seconds can mean the difference between life and death, making an arrest, protecting residents and their property, and more,” said Mayor Holden. “With this platform, we’ve been able to establish a near real-time, map-based link between our public safety agencies that creates an efficient and accurate overview of emergency situations unlike any we’ve ever seen before here in Baton Rouge – helping to serve the needs of our citizens as swiftly as possible through reducing those minutes or seconds it takes for our agencies to respond.”
This morning’s demonstration featured a number of scenarios in which the platform can be utilized to aid in public safety response and management efforts, including the utilization of a detailed operational dashboard to support officer placement and deployment and a 96-hour crime incident map-based view to track recurrences of specific crimes in a specific area.
“The launch of this cutting edge platform will dramatically transform how we respond to and monitor emergency situations from one central environment, leveraging every available map and data point to protect the safety of both our citizens and officers,” said Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr. “This platform is yet another example of the innovation that can happen when our City-Parish departments work together to achieve shared missions, and I look forward to future efforts and ways in which we can build off of this program in continued service to our Baton Rouge community.”
“The significant advancements we’ve made in recent years through our geographic information system program here at the City-Parish have allowed us to take similar leaps forward in how we utilize technology to power efforts like this PSCOP initiative, which require a tremendous amount of collaboration across multiple agencies to integrate real-time, disparate data streams into one central environment from which our law enforcement agencies can make real-time and potentially life-saving decisions,” said Eric Romero, Interim Director of Information Services.
Romero pointed to the Baton Rouge Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, and other law enforcement agencies as candidates for an expansion of this pilot platform, ultimately working to establish a common operational platform from which all emergency response agencies in East Baton Rouge Parish can begin mobilizing.
City-Parish staff began work on the platform in January 2015 following a joint emergency management exercise with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), from which the need for this type of central operational management tool emerged. From this effort, a cross-departmental team led by Romero and Warren Kron, City-Parish Geographic Information System (GIS) Manager, worked to integrate a number of disparate datasets encompassing three strategic public safety areas: daily operations, investigations and analytics, and emergency management.
The following list comprises the actual map layers and data products integrated into the PSCOP:
• Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) for on- and off-duty police vehicles
• Crime Incidents
• Traffic Incidents
• Traffic Cameras
• Police Districts and Zones
• Critical Infrastructure
• Special Event Road Closures
• Population and Demographics
• Business Locations
Large format touch-screen display monitors are in the process of being installed at BRPD district locations for displaying the interactive maps, dashboards, and management tools available through this platform. However, during emergency events, the entire PSCOP will be available for all public safety stakeholder agencies to utilize and monitor in coordinating effective and efficient response efforts.