Public safety agencies are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of citizens across the country. Although each public safety agency has different public safety functions, such as law enforcement or emergency medical response, all public safety agencies rely on accurate and immediately accessible data to properly perform their duties.

Law Enforcement Officers Need Real Time Information
Law enforcement agencies across the country typically have limited resources and manpower. They traditionally rely on dispatch centers to communicate and request information. On a busy night with limited personnel, this is a recipe for public safety disasters. Consequently, many police officers must perform many administrative tasks by themselves at their desk, but they are needed on patrol. However, having live, mobile computers in patrol cars allows police officers to access driving and criminal records from the convenience of their vehicle. This is absolutely essential for law enforcement officers who are trailing suspects or responding to a crime scene. Older mobile law enforcement programs only allow police officers to access basic information, such as drivers’ licenses, and perform basic functions, such as send messages. However, checking on warrants is a function that is offered through newer software programs that can communicate between court and law enforcement systems.

Child Welfare Departments Need Perfect Programs
Child protective services (CPS) are central units of all State Child Welfare Departments. CPS social workers are tasked with responding to reports of child abuse, neglect and exploitation. If necessary, they must remove children from their homes and place them in protective foster care homes. While social workers do not need real-time data, they must have high quality software that guarantees zero glitches and data loss. This is because CPS social workers must continually create accurate and comprehensive reports concerning the foster children on their caseload. This information is utilized by law enforcement, other state agencies and especially the State’s family court system. Therefore, any data loss or case documentation problems may have serious consequences for foster children and their parents who are trying to win back custody.

The Benefits of High Quality Software Programs
High quality software programs guarantee data access, integrity and much more. For starters, they are user-friendly and highly customizable. This means that agencies can adapt their programs according to their own needs and functions. As a result, public safety agencies can continually configure their public safety software programs until they become streamlined in conjunction with their operational processes. This will result in better efficiency, timeliness and quality of service for the public.

In review, high quality software is critical for public safety agencies to properly serve and protect their communities. These programs will perform standard functions, but also have room to grow and adapt with changing internal demands and community needs.