After an almost year-long pilot, the New Zealand Police will deploy iOS devices to thousands of officers, with over 6,000 receiving the devices in the initial rollout. A primary motivator of this initiative is to make officers more efficient. New Zealand estimates that 520,000 hours of front-line police time – thirty minutes per officer per shift – will be freed up to reinvest in policing by officers’ using the devices to check offender details and perform other actions real time in the field that may have otherwise required a trip to the station.
The investment will total $135 million over ten years. iOS devices were chosen based on officer feedback and usefulness of functionality.
While New Zealand’s deployment of iOS devices is among the more prominent for police departments, U.S. federal agencies are also adopting iOS (many transitioning from Blackberry) including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). U.S. police departments are also adopting iOS devices.
For example, in the face of budget cuts and downsizing, the Redlands, California police department obtained a grant to equip officers and command staff with iPhones and iPads. The portability and easy access to information have transformed how the department functions.
CrimePad by Visionations will help make the case to go to iOS if your department is not mobile yet or will be a powerful addition to your mobile arsenal if it is.