Case Closed
Recently, an attendant at a Pequannock, NJ, gas station was shot to death after being robbed at gunpoint. Police collected as evidence a security video camera tape of the crime.
Within hours, local police and investigators distributed footage from the tape to neighboring agencies and area television stations, hoping someone would come forward with information. Seventy-two hours after the robbery-murder, Officer Vincent Crapello of the Fairfield, NJ, Police Department (FPD) stopped a suspicious-looking vehicle. He ran a check on the license plate using Packetcluster Patrol, a wireless mobile information system from Marlborough, MA-based Cerulean Technology. Within seconds of entering the license plate number into the system, information flashed onto Crapello’s laptop stating that the vehicle was wanted in connection with a missing-person case in Jefferson Township, NJ.
Armed with this information, Crapello approached the vehicle and arrested the man on weapons possession charges. Later, at headquarters, the suspect confessed to the gas station murder.
“This case could not have been solved as quickly without Packetcluster Patrol,” said FPD Chief Edward C. Facas. “Using the system, Officer Crapello was able to access multiple databases to get information regarding the vehicle and the suspect during a routine license plate inquiry-a process that may not have occurred, or might have taken what typically seems like hours, without Packetcluster.”
Officer safety and efficiency The mobile data system, in addtion to its role in this case, helps Fairfield officers uncover outstanding warrants for arrest during routine license and registration checks. These include warrants for auto theft and “deadbeat” parents who owe child support payments.
“With access to various databases at their fingertips, officers have easy and speedy access to critical law enforcement information. Our officers can now perform their jobs more effectively,” said Chief Facas. . “We have seen an increase in the number of warrant-related arrests and a significant rise in stolen vehicle recoveries.”
The software integrates with wireless communications technology to allow more than 100 officers in four New Jersey towns (Fairfield, Caldwell, Essex Fells and Roseland) access to vital criminal and motor vehicle databases from the field. The agencies use a nationwide radio network from BellSouth Wireless Data to link patrol car laptops to the Packetcluster server, which is connected through a router to individual state and national motor vehicle and law enforcement databases. Access to critical information sources, such as the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles and the New Jersey state police criminal justice database, provides officers with warrant data, and vehicle and driver registration information. A second router connects field officers with the FBI National Crime Information Center (NCIC) databases, providing instant access to criminal history and wanted-felon information.
“Previously, using a radio dispatch system, officers had to wait 10 to 12 minutes for information from the dispatcher located at headquarters,” Chief Facas said. “Now, officers know within moments of their query they’ll have all the information they need to make an arrest, ensuring their safety in a potentially dangerous situation.”
More crime-fighting capabilities Mobile data can make officers safer by providing them with critical law enforcement information before approaching a suspect. To improve officer safety further, Fairfield will integrate Packetcluster Patrol with its computer-aided dispatch and in-house records management system, which is connected to an online mugshot database. Instant access to multiple information sources will enable officers to cross-reference previous cases and arrests, access known identification information (such as birthmarks or tattoos) and query recorded crime patterns, including location of recent car thefts.
Fairfield plans to expand its wireless communications by adding Cerulean’s Packetwriter wireless report-writing software. Field reporting (writing, filing and updating) keeps officers on active patrol, rather than constantly returning to headquarters to manually process the information.
The security of data communications makes patrol officers more effective, while ensuring their safety. Using mobile data, officers can keep investigative and undercover operations information out of the hands of criminals. In the past, technology-savvy criminals knew when officers were approaching by listening to police scanners. Encrypted communications technology allows officers to share sensitive information over the radio as data, as well as real-time email, without worrying about being overheard.
“Now, officers can transmit messages from car-to-car and car-to-headquarters without worrying about being overheard by eavesdropping criminals. With encryption, officers can stay one step ahead of crime,” Chief Facas said. N
