Technology Update:

In 2001 the Berwyn Heights Police Department installed Mobile Data Terminals in each of it's patrol cars, which allow the officers to run Driver's License & Vehicle Registration Checks through MVA, Check for Outstanding Warrants through the MILES & NCIC system, and Check for both "Open" and "Closed" Warrants on file with the Prince George's County Sheriff's Department.  The MDT's also allow officers to write Reports in the field, and in most of the cruisers, allows the officers to complete and print State Traffic Citations, Safety Repair Orders, Warning Notices and Parking Citations. 

The BHPD gets it MVA & NCIC data via "MILES." (Maryland Interagency Law Enforcement System)  The connection to MILES is obtained by using Aether PacketCluster Patrol software, to connect to the server, which is owned and maintained by the Prince George's County Division of the Maryland National Capital Park Police. 

The actual "wireless" connection between our patrol cars and the server at the Park Police Headquarters is made over Verizon's CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) Network, using a Sierra Wireless AirCard 300 PCMCIA Wireless Modem, and an external antenna mounted on the rear window of each patrol car.  CDPD has been around for many years, and is used by hundreds of police and fire departments throughout the country.  It runs over the carrier's existing cellular phone network, and runs at a speed of 19.2 Kbs.  (Note: This is the rated speed of the CDPD network, however in reality, the speed normally runs at about 9-14 Kbs, or in other words, "painfully slow!")  The CDPD network has served agencies well for the past ten years because most mobile data terminals were being used primarily to transmit and receive "text data," which is generally very small in size, and tends to "fly" over the CDPD network very fast.  However times have changed dramatically since the inception of CDPD, and no longer are mobile data terminals used just for text.  With technology moving as fast as it is, police departments everywhere are starting to use these "mini computers" to send everything from Wanted Posters to Fingerprints across the wireless networks, which in turn causes a problem for the slower CDPD network.

Recognizing the "Need for Speed," Verizon, as well as many of the other major carriers, have developed faster technologies for wireless data communications.  The next step is "3G" (which stands for "3rd Generation) and is more commonly known as the 1xRTT Network.  "1X" wireless modems run normally at speeds of between 30-60 Kbs, with burst speeds of up to 144 Kbs.  Of course changing networks requires replacing the wireless modems, and Sierra Wireless' answer to this new technology is the "AirCard 555."  The AirCard 555 comes bundled with third party software from Venturi, a company whose product "compresses the data" sent over the wireless network, and makes it "fly" faster than it normally would.  This "compression" technique causes the data rates to increase by an average of 300%, without any compromise in data quality.    
    Sierra Wireless AirCard 555

Since 1xRTT is the future of wireless technology, Verizon & AT&T have both announced that they will terminate their CDPD systems in January of 2005.  This means that any agency using the CDPD network for wireless communications will have to upgrade to "1X" in less than 12 months.  Although Verizon is offering police and fire departments the same monthly rate for the new "1X" service as the old CDPD fees were, there is still a substantial cost involved in purchasing new modems and antennas.
(The 1xRTT network runs at both 1900 Mhz and 800 Mhz, so a "dual-band" antenna is required.  The CDPD modem only ran
on the 800 Mhz system, so the antenna was a "single-band" model.)

The Berwyn Heights Police Department has already started to migrate it's patrol cars over to the new 1xRTT Network.  On January 20, 2004, the BHPD switched it's first car over to "1X," using the Sierra Wireless AirCard 555, and an Antenna Specialists brand Dual-Band "On-Glass" Antenna.  The Venturi Data Compression Software was installed as well, and the resulting network speeds have been incredibly fast.  Depending on the signal strength from the nearest cell site, the average data speed on the 1xRTT network registers between 230-600 Kbs.  The fastest speed registered so far was in the area of U.S. Route 1 & Cherryhill Road in College Park, Maryland, where the speed of the 1xRTT network averaged at 1127 Kbs.  (This is in the same speed range of a wired "T1" data line!)

The BHPD will be installing a new headquarters server in the next two months, and after it's completion, patrol cars equipped with the new 1xRTT modems will be able to view Photographs, Full Color Wanted Posters, and other "bandwidth intensive" items directly from their MDT's, in only a few seconds.  (Trying to do this over the CDPD network was next to impossible.)

As a result of the faster speeds, the department will be able to increase it's file sharing capabilities not only with the headquarters server, but in the future, with other agencies as well.

A second 1xRTT wireless modem is on order, and should be installed within the next two weeks.  The department plans to have all of it's patrol cars switched over to the new 1xRTT network within the next six months. 

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April 10, 2004 Update - All Berwyn Heights Police Vehicles are now "online" with 1xRTT  Modems, and all CDPD modems have been removed and disconnected.  Officers are now experiencing the advantages of having the higher speed modems connected to their Mobile Data Terminals.  In addition, officers can now search the department's "in-house" database for Names, Addresses, Incident Types, etc. of prior incidents or traffic citations by logging into the newly installed department server, and the higher speed modems are what make most of this possible.  Soon the officers will be able to view photographs of suspects, prior arrests, etc., along with the names and addresses.