County Police Praise FirstNet Capabilities
County police are looking forward to the rollout of a nationwide public safety broadband network, the National Association of Counties said Tuesday. Police officers voiced enthusiasm for the network in an article about the FirstNet request for proposal on the…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
NACo website. FirstNet released the RFP in January, and proposals are due May 13 (see 1603160052). Sheriff Jim Voutour from Niagara County, New York, said one immediate benefit with FirstNet is using smartphone apps connected to a secure network. The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office has launched several apps, including one that provides access to real-time detention center data with mug shots, charges and other information. The app includes push notifications for Amber Alerts and news about escapees and searches. “In Niagara County we take technology very seriously. We are always looking forward,” Voutour said. “The cops we are hiring today grew up with technology; they’ve had smartphones since they were 10 years old.” Meanwhile, in Texas, the public safety network “has made the laptop in a patrol car the equivalent of a network PC,” Brazos County Lt. Thomas Randall said. “We have gone from dial-up to a smartphone overnight.”