Panel notes development of public-safety apps, need for dialogue to create more

Beck’s office helps law enforcement with implementation and training at no cost, although the tools might require additional hardware that the individual agencies would have to purchase.
To showcase the available public-safety applications, APCO maintains a website, called AppComm, that posts vetted apps and other features, such as a chat forum. That site, which features more than 180 apps, can be found here.

These new applications can help first responders execute their duties better, but it’s important that the public-safety community have a dialogue—one that includes developers—about what their concerns and issues are related to application development, Reddish said.  

That conversation should go beyond what the current public-safety needs are and focus on how these drastically different technologies will change the industry, said Brian Shepherd, broadband program manager for the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology.

“We’re having a really good conversation about the specific applications we need, but we’re not really having a conversation about the impact on public safety that it has at a higher level,” said Shepherd, another webinar speaker. “The usual question is … ‘What services and apps does public safety need?’ which is a valid question. We need a lot of things. But the other perspective on the same question is ‘How does public safety change, given the power of a dedicated broadband network?’

“We still do things in public safety the way we did 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that we still communicate the same way we did back then.”

For example, instead of “calling in” on the radio when officers arrive on the scene, GPS could be used to locate personnel and proactively direct resources, he said.

As for the application needs, Shepherd offered these suggestions: Mission-critical voice on LTE, the use of sensors, tools to analyze the information from sensors, and a method to share medical information through the FirstNet network.