Ogden Police Department Protects and Serves With Fusion Core Solution

Utah agency improves information sharing and efficiency by selecting a Web portal developed by Microsoft and Ersi ArcGIS.

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Jun 19, 2012, 09:00 ET

REDMOND, Wash., June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ogden Police Department increased its officer safety and effectiveness by choosing Fusion Core Solution, an easy-to-use Web portal designed to help law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies improve information sharing and management. The solution combines the capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Environmental Systems Research Institute (Ersi)'s ArcGIS to help deliver the right information to the right place at the right time -- and at the right price.

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"Our challenge was to incorporate myriad existing resources that were not being used to their full potential into a solution that provided the officers and investigators with actionable information at minimal cost," said Mike Ashment, chief of police, Ogden Police Department. "We already had ArcGIS and SharePoint but were unaware of the capability that existed."

The Ogden Police Department serves a population of 82,000 over an area of 28 square miles, making it a much smaller agency than its big-city counterparts. Even so, Ogden wanted to mimic the high-tech command centers often found in larger cities that enable officers to better focus their resources. In addition to staying within its existing budget, Ogden needed to find a solution that integrated many disparate systems and exposed information through a user-friendly interface, making it easy for officers to access, analyze and apply the data.

Fusion Core Solution helps Ogden monitor priority calls, increase situational awareness, handle more calls, and improve planning and incident command. The solution also includes a geospatial mapping component that has helped officers examine trends and develop proactive policing strategies, giving them greater insight on how to best deploy departmental resources. Information is visualized on a map that includes data about crime and locations of police and fire stations, city cameras, schools, hospitals, and traffic lights. Ogden can more efficiently protect and serve its city by using real-time information about registered sex offenders, probationers and parolees within a given radius.

"Municipal governments across the entire nation are demanding their agencies find a way to do more with less," Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell said. "This relationship is a great success story of Ogden finding a way to do just that. This type of proactive policing and the ability to identify problems and potential threats allow us to create a much safer community and to provide added safety for our brave men and women without adding huge burdens to already-breaking budgets."

"After all is said and done, our job is to make Ogden a safer community. This technology is helping us make better use of our limited resources by focusing our efforts where they are most beneficial," Ashment said. "Random patrol and luck simply doesn't accomplish our goal of measured crime reduction and crime prevention. Our success is attributed to accurate and timely information that focuses our attention on the right people and the right places at the right times."

More information about Ogden's choice is available in the Microsoft case study, Esri ArcGIS video case study and blog post. More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.