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built entirely in house and was recognized with a National As- sociation of Counties achievement award. Prior to the creation of the portal, information was primarily sent to the mobile data computers in cars using a mobile messaging application, similar to email. While this process did get limited information out, it was less organized and often overwhelming in volume when an officer returned from being off and would receive a large amount of mes- sages all at once. If messages were deleted, it was often cumber- some to retrieve the information. The department’s new portal allows information to be sorted and organized in a far more effective manner and includes a myr- iad of features such as, messaging, multi-name look up, access to the sex offender registry, discharged inmates, crime alerts, license plate reader data, article tracking, mapping capability and access to training videos. Due to the size of Suffolk County most of the patrol officers relieve in the field and not at police precincts. As a result there is no opportunity to provide roll call briefings. Another useful feature of the portal is the ability to provide virtual roll call briefings to inform officers of important information when they come on duty. The new portal provides unprecedented access to information and intelligence right in the department’s patrol cars. The release of the new portal coincided directly with another technology enhancement that the department had been working on, replacement of mobile data computers. The department first installedmobile data computers in its patrol cars back in 2000 and this replacement cycle would launch the fourth generation of in- car computers. The first three generations where nearly identical, ruggedized laptop computers which were locked in place within each patrol car. Only members of the department’s IT Section could remove the computers. Each generation had lasted five to six years and they were replaced after warranty coverage had lapsed and computers began to fail due to near continuous us- age in harsh weather conditions. The fourth generation computer would be different, both in the system itself and the methodology used to select it. The command staff of the department felt very strongly that it was time to allow officers to become truly mobile with their computers. After extensive research a variety of systems were built out and field tested on patrol. Feedback was obtained from the officers who utilized these systems. This input played a large part in the final selection of a Dell brand tablet computer that could be removed for the patrol car while remaining fully func- tional. This enhanced mobility greatly improved upon the value of the new portal as it was now accessible virtually anywhere that an officer could bring his tablet. Much like the public had tran- sitioned from desktop computers to smartphones for increased flexibility, the department had finally made a similar transition. While internal data analysis and sharing is essential to intel- ligence led policing, it doesn’t stop there. Cross jurisdictional data sharing is also critical to effectively reducing crime. Crime often crosses jurisdictional boundaries, as had been the case with the three homicides that occurred shortly before the Suffolk County Police Department had been established. This type of data sharing is more important than it has ever been with the potentially devas- tating threats now facing communities in the twenty first century, such as acts of terrorism, active shooter attacks and school safety concerns. Prevention is the optimal goal when dealing with these catastrophic incidents and prevention relies heavily upon internal and cross jurisdictional data sharing. The risks associated with not sharing information are grave and unforgivable.

Many of the most prolific crime patterns that the Suffolk County Police Department have dealt with recently involved opi- oid addicted individuals who need cash each and every day to feed their habit. They often commit crimes in numerous jurisdictions and in fact many recent crime patterns in Suffolk County have in- volved crimes committed in neighboring Nassau County or in the jurisdiction of the town and village departments that still police the eastern portion of Suffolk County. The failure to freely and rou- tinely share intelligence is akin to working blind. Analogous to as- sembling a jigsaw puzzle, the more pieces that you have available, the greater the likelihood of discerning the image. One department may possess a critical piece of information, such as the type of ve- hicle used during a crime pattern, which may immediately allow a neighboring department to identify a potential suspect due to greater familiarity with the suspect and their vehicle. Due to the effectiveness of the department’s portal in dis- seminating intelligence, a modified version was created and made available for associated law enforcement agencies within Suffolk County. This ensures a two way data exchange while pro- viding a product that these departments would likely have been unable to obtain otherwise. In a similar fashion the Suffolk Coun- ty Police Department also made their license plate reader data storage servers available to all departments in Suffolk County a few years ago. This not only allowed all of the participating agen- cies to share each other’s data, it also allowed departments to save money on data storage which could instead be invested in mobile license plate readers, thereby increasing data collection and improving efficiency. Suffolk County has been deeply affected by the opioid cri- sis like many other communities across the country. Dealing with this crisis is yet another area where enhanced data sharing is ad- vantageous. The department was able to obtain a federally fund- ed data analyst from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program. This analyst tracts and maps overdose trends so that patterns can rapidly be detected. This has allowed the de- partment, for example, to detect dealers pedaling highly potent Fentanyl and to obtain emergency search warrants to prevent ad- ditional overdose deaths from occurring. Suffolk County was one of the first departments nationally to input data into the new HIDTA ODMAP , a nationwide mapping database to graphically show regional and national overdose trends. Having the capability to view other agency’s overdose data allows the department to see trends and prepare before they impact locally. Drug dealers are not restricted by jurisdic- tional boundaries either, so having a regional view of overdoses is a key element to combating this crisis. As the impact of the opioid crisis worsened in Suffolk County the department transitioned from documenting overdoses on their standard online aided case report to documenting overdoses on a newly created online re- port entitled aided case overdose to assist in tracking them. This report was eventually supplemented by a more detailed paper overdose report to capture additional details. Adding the neces- sity to have patrol officers input this information into the HIDTA ODMAP program would have added yet another step and it could have been somewhat burdensome, but providing real time data was essential. Once again the department’s IT Section rose to the occasion, creating a new online report that combined the former online and paper reports, while at the same time automatically submitting data into the HIDTA ODMAP programonce the report is completed. This enhanced data collection and analysis effort ac-

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