15 minute oral report

Site Navigation

Basically it's a three frame website. The top frame holds the banner "International Association of Chiefs of Police Technology Clearinghouse" with the subheading "The source for law enforcement related technology." When using Netscape Navigator, the site's navigation has a big problem. You can't view the entire left main menu. There is no side scrolling bar to use. You have to right click the left frame and choose the "Open Frame in New Window" option to see the entire menu. Also, the website contains a javascript that creates a scrolling textbox about an inch and a half in height. The text scrolls downwards, so a person has to time his mouse click with the scrolling text in that box to use the hyperlinks.

Most of the website's pages were last modified on October 2000. Therefore, the information may be a little outdated. Furthermore, a couple of links turn out to be broken when using Netscape Navigator. In addition, the website allows people to perform a search. The search operation allows Boolean operators such as "and," "or," "near," etc. I tried a search on the word "Hawaii" and it turned up zero pages found. Then, I tried the acronym "HPD" and it turned up zero pages found. Last, I tried the phrase "road rage" and it found about thirty pages with the word "road," but none of the pages contained the word "rage." Therefore, the search operation was pretty good, but it can be improved.

Overall Interest

"How interesting was it to navigate the site?" The site's navigation took a while to get accustomed with. Opening a new window to see the complete menu of links helped, but it was annoying to have to switch constantly between windows. Also, clicking on a link creates a new window as well, which adds to the confusion.

"Did you get a mental map of the site, its layout, and its contents?" Yes. Basically, the left frame contains the main menu. The first link is a link to the purpose of LEIM. LEIM stands for Law Enforcement Information Management. The purpose of LEIM is "to provide the law enforcement profession and, more specifically, the law enforcement executive with information, training, and a forum for discussion of law enforcement information management issues." In other words, the website is a reference tool for people in the law enforcement profession.

The site is a reference for police chiefs who are making RFP's or requests for proposal, of technology equipment. The next four links give guidelines and standards for technology such as mobile computing, records management systems, computer aided dispatch, etc. These guidelines were taken from a June 1995 LEIM, Law Enforcement Information Management, conference at Alexandria, Virginia.

The next couple of links provides conference information and membership application forms. The next five links in the main menu show resources and companies that have been successfully employed by the law enforcement community. The website points out, however, that it is not endorsing any product over another.

Some companies or resources that have successfully provided hardware to the law enforcement community are: ACER, Cisco Switches and Routers, Citizen Printers, Compaq Computers, Cycomm, Data911, Ericsson Radio, Fieldwork Inc., Gateway laptop, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, and IBM.

Some companies or resources that have successfully provided software to the law enforcement community are: AG Communications, ADSI, Aegis Software, American Management Systems, Banyan, Cisco Systems, Corel, Data-Nexus, GTE Wireless, IBM FormRunner, Lotus, Microsoft Frontpage, Microsoft Office 97, Microsoft Server, Microsoft Windows 95, Oracle, etc.

The website also displays links of companies or resources that have contributed communications, accessories, and organization products. Each company link is hyperlinked to huge JPEG images of the products, which take a while to load.

The next six links on the main menu provides links to pages with links to publications and articles. A few publications the website links to are: 911 Magazine, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Law Enforcement News, Technology Talk, etc.

So, how extensive is the site? By printing four of the website's linked pages, I got a total of 57 printed pages. Four equals 57. However some of the website's pages involve repetitions of stating the Law Enforcement's guidelines for RFP's, or requests for proposal.

General Content

"What was the general content and purpose of this site?" The general content and purpose of the site is to promote LEIM, Law Enforcement Information Management, guidelines in making requests for proposal of technology.

For example, LEIM guidelines for requesting mobile/portable computer technology begin with a "statement of goals." Goals may include "reduce the costs of report preparation, improve the accuracy and utility of information, minimize data handling, maximize officer time in the field", etc.

Guidelines then focus on the intended scope of the system. "What kind of capabilities will result from the system? Will there be the capability to access state motor vehicle, criminal history, or stolen vehicle systems from the portable computer system?"

Environmental considerations are also included in the guidelines. What is the physical environment in which the portable computers will be used? They must function in a full range of weather conditions. Temperature variations range from sub-zero to tropical with a variety of humidity conditions. Computer screens need to be visible in bright sunlight and total darkness. Also, there can be no reflection from the computer screen to protect the officer.

The guidelines go further by including schedule for implementation, research, budget requirements, warranty, and long-term support issues. The website states that according to "Moore's Law" of computer chip technology, "chip technology capability doubles every 18 months. With that rate of change, an agency cannot possibly keep up with technology; therefore, the issues of compatibility, utility, open systems, and maintainability take higher priority. Other guidelines include security system issues.

"Who or what organization sponsors and authors the site?" The sponsors of the website are the Federal Highway Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The principal authors of the site is the IACP and Charles Drescher, Los Angeles Police Department, Chairman of LEIM subcommittee.

Specific Content

I chose to report on the article entitled, "Information Sharing: A Strategic Necessity," published in the February 2001 issue of Technology Talk, written by Warren Tomek, Vice President, Criminal Justice Operations. It is the most recent article on the website as of today. "There are over 19,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States alone, and 125 other free-world countries have a variety of criminal justice system configurations." Although there is a great amount of information being collected at all levels, federal, state, and local agencies, little information is shared among them.

"The National Institute for Justice identified information sharing as the number-one priority for information technology solutions among state and local criminal justice agencies." The solution that the agencies seem to be focusing on involves a shift in software. The article recommends a change from "stand-alone" software to "web-enabled" software, thereby creating more compatibility. Nestcape co-founder, Marc Andreesen states, "The process [of converting to web-enabled software] will be difficult for established companies in the short-term, but vital for their survival in the long-term."

What the article does not discuss is the ramifications that go with a web-enabled system. System security issues such as hacking, worms, and viruses need to be considered. Also, the article focuses solely on technology and not the philosophies of the federal, state, and local agencies. Just because the web-enabled software will allow them to interact better, it does not mean that the agencies will share information. Agencies may still choose not to share.

So how does the website relate to the course? The site shows an abundance of consideration is put into selecting and designing technology equipment for the police around the country. And the police uses that very same technology to serve and protect citizens, which is similar to the goal of Dr.Driving, which is to ensure public safety.