B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) takes New York s Governor David A. Paterson s comment -- More and more citizens and businesses rely on technology to interact with government to obtain vital services that build stronger, safer, and smarter communities throughout our great State to task and has undertaken a statewide, collaborative effort to improve public safety and law enforcement efforts for New York residents. DCJS opened four Crime Analysis Centers in 2009 to support state and local government collaborative intelligence-led policing in four New York counties that have the most criminal activity outside of New York City and Long Island. The Centers in Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, and Syracuse are using new technology tools for Digital Signage to guide the efforts of DCJS to consolidate all of its criminal and public safety data in one cohesive manner, a task that has never been done on a state or local level before. To ensure public safety information was used to its highest potential, particularly in urban areas with the highest Uniform Crime Reports, the Centers multi-jurisdictional units are built around a sophisticated technology capable of conducting in-depth analysis of all information that may be related to local crime. This analysis provides a comprehensive picture of the criminal environment within a particular county; allows law enforcement executives to make informed decisions in the areas of strategic planning and tactical deployment; and aids investigators in solving crimes. The Centers and their Digital Signage bring a strategic, intelligence-led approach to crime fighting, focusing upon the identification, analysis and management of persistent and developing threats and risks. With the technology provided, the Centers promote data-driven, evidencebased actions. The Crime Analysis Centers Digital Signage Project has installed forty-three 52-inch LCD monitors with digital media players in upstate counties. Monitors display realtime crime fighting information such as crime fight activities, most wanted criminals, missing children, armed and dangerous criminals, etc., which are shared by State, County and local law enforcement, parole and public safety agencies around the State. DCJS used centralized State contracts reducing costs to less than $5,000 per site. Over the 40 sites, this represents more than $180,000 in cost savings. It cost each Center only 25% of what it might be if the technology was purchased separately for individual entities or deploying them separately. The Crime Analysis Centers Digital Signage Project is directly aligned with New York State overarching strategic goals of: protecting disenfranchised populations and reducing state spending. This application addresses several of NASCIO s State CIO Top Priorities including: Budget and Cost Controls; Shared Services; Business Intelligence and Business Analytics. Page 2 of 7
C. DESCRIPTION The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is a multi-function criminal justice support agency with a variety of responsibilities, including collection and analysis of statewide crime data; operation of the DNA databank and criminal fingerprint files; administration of federal and state criminal justice funds; support of criminal justice-related agencies across the state; and administration of the state s Sex Offender Registry that allows anyone to research the status of an offender. DCJS also supports Operation IMPACT, an initiative that provides special assistance to the 17 counties upstate and on Long Island that account for nearly 80 percent of the crime outside of New York City. Problem DCJS needed a more efficient and effective way to get critical public safety and law enforcement information to New York s officers at the local, state, and federal level, as well as a day- to-day crime fighting tool. New York has multiple data sources available to its public safety agencies and DCJS wanted to consolidate all of this criminal and public safety data in one cohesive manner. In order to ensure this information was being used to its highest potential, particularly in urban area with the highest Uniform Crime Reports, DCJS opened four Crime Crime Analysis Centers Are Helping to Catch Criminals http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://cr iminaljustice.state.ny.us/pio/crimeanalysisprimer.html Analysis Centers in 2009 to support a state and local government collaborative project intelligence-led policing. New technology tools were sought to disseminate crime fighting information for the Centers. The Centers were successful in allowing DCJS to gather and analyze criminal and public safety data, leading to the next question of how does DCJS disseminate the information in a way that makes it most usable. Navigating through the information and presenting it in a real-time format can prove to be very difficult. To resolve the issue, DCJS identified a solution that provides a new way to distribute critical safety data to officers on the street and the public as soon as possible. DCJS had two main goals for this project: 1) deliver information in an innovative way and coordinate the data from many sources, and 2) provide crime analysis using a wide variety of data at the public safety agencies fingertips but not always readily available. One option considered was a regular website on a big screen or touch screen, but the digital signage concept came to the forefront allowing the solution to operate in a Page 3 of 7
network environment, demanding the attention of both law enforcement offices and the public. Solution The Centers are centrally located, multi-jurisdictional units built around a sophisticated technology deployment capable of conducting in-depth analysis of all information that may be related to local crime. This analysis provides a comprehensive picture of the criminal environment within a particular county; allows law enforcement executives to make informed decisions in the areas of strategic planning and tactical deployment; and aids investigators in solving crimes. The Centers bring a strategic, intelligence-led approach to crime fighting, focusing upon the identification, analysis and management of persistent and developing threats and risks. With the technology provided by Cisco and IPLogic, the Centers promote data-driven, evidence-based actions. They have been opened in Erie, Monroe, Albany, and Onondaga counties and a similar center in Nassau County has been enhanced. By deploying LCD monitors with Digital Media Players at the Crime Analysis Centers, DCJS was able to display information, gathered from a central content server, for a billboard-type information channel that ultimately enhanced intergovernmental collaboration. This information campaign is compiled per-county for distribution by a designated campaign manager and viewed by officers at specified precinct Prioritized, real-time crime fighting information locations. The solution displays from a central content server is displayed. pertinent criminal information such as Several more displays have been requested. crime fight activities, most wanted criminals, missing children, armed and dangerous criminal, etc., to law enforcement agencies and personnel throughout the state and county precincts. This type of real-time crime fighting information is invaluable. DCJS has the ability to prioritize and identify the most important and timely information, managing a technology with real-time video and picture capabilities that does not exist anywhere else in the state. An example of the technology being used at the state level is the New York State Parole. Digital signage is installed in the parole offices of four cities. At the federal level, the Buffalo FBI Center installed a digital sign at its own expense as they saw the signage to be extremely valuable to their local operations. To date, DCJS has installed forty-three 52-inch LCD Monitors with Digital Media Players in four of New York counties including Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, and Syracuse. These counties have the most criminal activity outside of New York City and Long Island. The Digital Signage project has been in operation since early 2009. The planning process started March 2009 and the first displays went live July 2009. Page 4 of 7
The key to success for this project was collaboration, coordination and communication. DCJS worked with many IT network professionals in the State troopers, local governments, city police departments, suburban police districts and sheriff s offices to establish a highly secure level of network connectivity and engineering connections between the endpoints and DCJS s central office. Weekly and bi-weekly meetings are conducted so parties are informed about any updates surrounding the project, as well as to assess new and additional needs. Monthly user group meetings are held with the software and hardware product vendors and the staff at the Centers where end-users give demonstrations of what they are doing with the technology to share information and establish best practices. DCJS proactively reaches out to various groups in each county, speaks to chiefs of police associations, and leads presentations and tours for law enforcement executives of the Centers. There is a display in the middle of each of the Centers so when DCJS makes a campaign for the technology, their guests can preview it live. DCJS makes it a point to bring people to the Centers to show them the capabilities and allow them to see it in its normal course of operations. D. SIGNIFICANCE Due to the success of the project and the ease in which it can be adopted by other agencies, it has been widely endorsed throughout the State. Since the deployment of the project, DCJS has received numerous requests from public safety agencies, ranging from the local to the federal level, for the new technologic solutions. Many agencies are so eager to include the broadcasting capabilities as a part of their crime fighting efforts they offer to fund the technology on their own. There is currently a waiting list of approximately 44 locations with requests for new or additional displays. Improved Government Operations The goal of the program is to fight crime in the counties that have the highest crime in upstate New York. The digital signage has already proven its significance in meeting this goal. For example, state and local agencies have picked up suspects wanted for questioning by the police, executed warrants, and identified perpetrators, all from pictures and videos posted on the digital signage displays. Mutual communication and collaboration has greatly improved as public safety agencies, across multiple jurisdictions have the same information at the same time on the street not just at a dispatch office or at the commander or executive level, but in the field. Top Beneficiaries The public is the top beneficiary when crime is fought more effectively. Public safety is the number one priority and this technology helps make New York a safer place to live, raise families and run businesses. Solving crime in it of itself benefits the entire state. By taking one criminal off the street, it can potentially solve many past crimes and prevent many other crimes from happening in the future. Page 5 of 7
New York s public safety officers are also top beneficiaries. Officer safety is a very big concern as law enforcement is a dangerous job and it is critical that information gets the officers quickly and in a way that is easily digestible on the street. For instance, if a bank robbery occurs and the suspect is armed and dangerous, the officers on the street need a picture of the suspect immediately for safety reasons. Center for Digital Government Gives Best of NY Award for Best IT Collaboration Among Organizations to Crime Analysis Centers http://www.govtech.com/events/gtceast2009/awards Another beneficiary is the command staff of the local police departments. They now have another way to communicate with their personnel. Not only do the Centers generate information that goes on these signs, but they are very cooperative with local command staff, distributing information that is important to their community at their request. E. BENEFIT OF THE PROJECT Non-Financial Return on Investment The centralized coordination and support that DCJS is providing is what s really making the project so successful. The new digital signage has increased the quality of life of both the public and the officers and staff within New York s public safety agencies. It is reducing crime, making the streets and neighborhoods safer, and increasing officer safety. The Digital Signage solution also has resulted in higher efficiency for local police in fighting crime and in operational deployment. Below is just a few of the many success stories the new technology has realized: There have been seven arrests made on FBI Warrants in Buffalo, NY BOLOS (be on the lookout suspects) notices were put up on the monitor the night and morning after a sweep, and the seven have were picked up within 24 to 36 hours later. There have been at least 40 local individuals wanted by the Buffalo Police Department that were arrested after being featured on the screens. A Tonawanda Police Department bulletin about a robbery at a local gas station was posted and a Buffalo Police Officer recognized the individual and provided the name to the Tonawanda Detective. His identity was verified and there is a warrant out for his arrest. This individual was identified as a bank robber in Buffalo the same day, by watching the bank video on the digital signage. Page 6 of 7
A surveillance photo from a local Lord & Taylor department store showed a shoplifter stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. A bulletin went out on the digital display and a Monroe County Sheriff s Deputy recognized the suspect. He was arrested and is in the Ontario County jail, no bail, and the property was recovered. A man was suspected of a series of garage burglaries and of pawning a large number of stolen high-end bicycles. His picture was put on the digital signage and a Rochester Police Officer stopped the suspect after recognizing him from the digital display. He was arrested and charged with six other burglaries in Rochester and one petty larceny charge. Syracuse was able to post a description of a rape suspect immediately following the report of the attack from the Syracuse Police Department. A suspect in a larceny from Jefferson County was identified after being posted on the digital signage. A suspect who menaced several people with a gun at a Syracuse club was identified immediately following the video posting on the digital signage. Financial Return on Investment On the technical side, this deployment is extremely cost effective. With equipment, implementation, and 3-year licensing, costs could have totaled $9,500. DCJS used centralized State contracts reducing costs to less than $5,000 per site. Over the 40 sites, this represents over $180,000 in cost savings. Since DCJS is utilizing software as a service, they were able to save money by not having to invest in servers, other software to support use, or data center maintenance and personnel. Even though each Center can control its own environment and its own screens on a day-to-day basis, they are all part of one deployment for New York State, therefore sharing the costs. In turn, it cost each Center only 25% of what it might be if the technology was purchased separately for individual entities or deploying them separately. Similarly, maintenance costs are all centralized and procured at competitive state contract rates. From an end-customer perspective, clearly this is a very cost effective way to roll out information as evidenced by the popularity and interest the project has spurred. Anything that reduces crime and reduces cost to the community has a major payback. Page 7 of 7