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As Canada's most urbanized province (population approximately 11 million), Ontario has thousands of miles of highways. Policing them is the job of the 5,000-plus uniformed officers of Canada's Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). From the outside, the OPP's white / blue / gold patrol cars look sharp and modern. But looks can be deceiving: until recently, the interiors haven't kept pace.
Specifically, OPP officers have been doing their jobs without the benefit of in-car notebook computers and wireless data links. Of course, they can ask OPP Dispatch to look up information for them, but this can take precious minutes during peak periods. As a result, some officers end up guessing about the dangers they face when approaching pulled-over vehicles. Sometimes, these guesses are fatally wrong.
On the paperwork side, the lack of in-car computers means that OPP officers spend a lot of time driving to the station to write up reports. This is time that could be spent patrolling the province's highways instead.
Fortunately, the situation is improving for 320 OPP patrol cars posted to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), home of Ontario's major 400 series highways. The reason? $2.9 million is funding the deployment of notebooks and wireless modems in these cars. Using high-speed data services provided by two commercial cellular carriers- Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility- the 320 patrol cars are becoming as well-connected to the OPP's data networks as any PC in the station house. For officers on the front line of highway law enforcement, this degree of mobile automation is a life-saving change.
What's Being Installed
The OPP's new mobile automation system is based on two components: the Panasonic CF28 ToughBook and the Sierra Wireless MP 555 GPS Rugged Modem.
For most LAW and ORDER readers, the ToughBook needs little introduction. Packed into a magnesium alloy case- which is 20 times stronger than consumer-grade ABS plastic- the ToughBook is able to survive...