“That went very well and that success at the debates really sold it, and we expanded on that and had multiple groups created when we ran New Year’s Eve,” said Las Vegas Police Capt. Chris Tomaino.
The system allows encrypted messaging of text, video and images to multiple groups and enables law enforcement to avoid the pitfalls of one-to-one radio communication that can stall a response during a critical time.
The bottleneck during large events is often radio traffic. This system eliminates the typical problems with radios, Tomaino said. “It gets very loud and garbled and you can barely hear, or somebody keys the mike and you’ve got an open mike and it’s preventing everyone else from communication,” he said.
The system was especially useful during the New Year’s Eve celebrations because multiple agencies and other groups such as the local hotels were all dialed into the system. There were a dozen agencies on the system as well as 52 hotels. They were parceled into groups. For instance, there might be a strike team at an intersection comprising four lieutenants and 60 to 70 officers; there were teams consisting of agency personnel and those that included internal command and ranking law enforcement.
The system allows for dispatching information to those who need it, and the texts eliminate the confusion of over-the-radio talk. “You don’t have to ask somebody to retransmit because it’s spelled out in the texts,” Tomaino said.
Between 1,500 and 2,000 officers worked Las Vegas Boulevard during New Year’s Eve, along with personnel at the Real-Time Crime Center, who were tied into the 100 or so cameras along the street. When there was an issue the crime center could adjust a camera to get situational awareness and determine what would be needed in that section of the street. They could alert commanders of the necessary adjustments in seconds.
“You didn’t have too many people pivoting multiple resources and overconverging on something,” Tomaino said. “And they were able to stay on task for whatever else they were working on. That communication helps us move large amounts of resources efficiently.”
For Secured Communications’ CEO Rob Wilson, today’s world demands that law enforcement have access to encrypted communications for safety purposes. He said the future may involve secure communication up to the state or federal government level, but the start is protecting law enforcement and allowing for quicker communication.
Tomaino said the technology replaced a couple of recent systems that didn’t allow for the sharing of information among so many groups in a secured manner. “This is probably something we should have done five years ago.”
