THE FIRETIDE BLOG

How can mesh topology support mobile data in law enforcement?

Oct 20, 2015

Police Officer.jpgLaw enforcement officials and first responders utilize a lot of data to strengthen public safety. In fact, the market for wireless broadband in public safety is on the rise. According to a report recently published by MarketsandMarkets, the wireless broadband in public safety market - which includes data transmitted via fixed, mobile and satellite wireless broadband - is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.8 percent from 2015 to 2020. By the end of the forecast period, the market is expected to be worth $15.5 billion.

The growth of this industry s a ready indication of the kinds of tools police officers are starting to utilize in the field. It's becoming even more crucial for law enforcement officials to take advantage of mobile data to enhance emergency response efforts and keep cities safe, and they need reliable wireless networks to transmit the data they collect. Mesh networks present a solution to this issue.

How can mobile data be used?

With the market for mobile applications practically exploding as of late, it's only right that law enforcement officials would find ways to incorporate apps into their daily function. Officers are utilizing geolocating apps to determine the distance between them and an emergency situation, and firefighters are using mobile data to enhance risk data collection to determine which homes are prone to fire. This all adds up to mobile capabilities being crucial for daily use within the public sector. However, are networks ready to handle this much data?

According to Fierce Mobile Government, the Justice Department's National Criminal Justice Reference Service recently released atechnical report detailing the use of mobile apps in law enforcement. The report found that while the three apps custom-developed for commercial smartphones weren't adopted by criminal justice departments and thus didn't provide new information to the agencies in question, police officers did indicate smartphones were extremely useful tools for them in the field. Officer's use of smartphones translates to more data being transmitted via wireless networks, so it's crucial for these architectures to be resilient.

Law enforcement needs mesh solutions

With all the uses for mobile apps currently being taken advantage of by the public sector, networks are going to need help transmitting the data generated by these applications. Implementing a mesh network architecture could give these networks the resilience they need to send all the mobile data being accumulated by the apps and wireless video surveillance technologies being utilized by government agencies to improve safety.

According to Government Computer News, mesh networks canprovide mobile law enforcement the kind of support it needs to transmit data at high speeds, like on a bus or train. In Media, Pennsylvania, for instance, the city's six-camera network, which has helped convict criminals who would have gotten off otherwise, is supported by mesh.

These kinds of infrastructure are stronger and more resilient than ring architectures because each node in a mesh network can connect to the others – creating a web that adds redundancy to data transmission. In other words, if one node in a mesh architecture goes down, the network can self-heal by rerouting the information through a different node. That means the data is transmitted to its end point no matter what happens. This can make a difference in law enforcement, where every piece of data needs to count. It could mean perpetrators of crime are caught more quickly than they would be otherwise.

Contact Firetide today for more information about how our mesh networking solutions can help law enforcement and other public services get the data they need when they need it.


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Category: Public Safety

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