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Geneva police to hard wire into county CAD system [Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio](Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 16--GENEVA -- The city's police department will soon communicate through state-of-the-art technology from Ashtabula County's Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. CAD is a computerized system that brings fire, EMS and safety forces into a unified operating center and data base. It dispatches emergency services by computer, sends messages via mobile data terminals and is used to store and retrieve data. Geneva is already using its own CAD system, but becoming part of the county system will be an important upgrade, city officials said. With this system the dispatch center can view the status of units on call. The various departments' activities are instantly recorded, stored and made available to other departments. Police Chief Dan Dudik said the upgrade to the countywide CAD system has been in the works for years. He said it will allow dispatch at 911 centers to be available to all participating municipalities. "If every department in the jurisdiction has access to dispatch, it will be a lot more efficient," he said. He said the system will do more than provide dispatch access. It will also allow easier and greater information storage and retrieval for the department. "We're also looking at upgrades to our records system, like online motor vehicle crash reports, missing person reports, alerts, event logs, welfare security checks, vehicle loss reports and many other things," he said. "All of these will be instantly available to personnel on call." Geneva police has four cruisers with mobile data terminal units. Dudik made the case for joining the county-wide system at a safety committee meeting chaired by council member Sue Hagan Monday evening before the regular council meeting. "Now all that is needed is a letter from City Manager Jim Pearson to the county commissioners stating we want to be part of the system," Dudik said. "Once that's done, we could be in that CAD system before the end of 2014." Currently the county CAD response system is only at the Sheriff's Department. Other entities like Ashtabula, Conneaut and Geneva could provide the basis for a county-wide system. Director of Ashtabula County Emergency Manage-ment Agency Mike Fitchett said a countywide system would vastly improve local police, fire and EMS capabilities. "Currently the departments in these cities don't 'talk' to each other," he said. "We're hoping to make it feasible for that to happen. They would share records and information, talk to each other and know exactly where their patrol cars are." Fitchett sad a good example of what the proposed system could do would be providing police with an instant countywide data base. "If a Geneva officer pulled over a vehicle for a violation, it would show a record of everything it has been pulled over for," he said. Besides 911 calls and information sharing, the program would also be used for back-up and interdepartmental response. "We're hoping Ashtabula and Conneaut join Geneva and become part of the network," he said. "It will come in stages because there's the need for new equipment and records transfers. Luckily, Chief Dan Dudik helped install Geneva's system, and he understands the technology involved." Fitchett said the consolidation should be aided by the fact that the CAD hardware/software provider, ID Networks, is an Ashtabula-based company. ___ (c)2014 the Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio) Visit the Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio) at www.starbeacon.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |