Providence unveils new wireless safety network

In a police car parked outside of the Providence Public Safety Complex, an officer views reports on a laptop. Outside, a small black antenna and video camera are affixed to a corner of the three-story complex. What’s new here?

Computers have been mounted inside the city’s squad cars for years, but only recently did they begin getting information via antennas such as the one near the police car. Last week, a new, more robust wireless network for all Providence public safety departments was unveiled, as the city continued to equip its police, fire and rescue vehicles with the technology.

“At the end of the day, it’s about saving lives and making our community stronger,” said Mayor David N. Cicilline at a news briefing. “That’s what this technology allows us to do.”

The network consists of 400 wireless antennas – mounted on buildings and lamp posts throughout the city – each of which is able to cover two to three city blocks, said Dave White, a vice president at Motorola Inc., which sold the city the wireless network.

According to Motorola, the so-called “mesh” wireless system now in Providence was originally developed for the U.S. military, to provide individual soldiers with quick access to data on the battlefield. Only about 12 municipalities in the nation have the “cutting-edge” networks, White said.

Though the city police have been using wireless technology for about five years, the new network has the speed and bandwidth to enable public safety workers to download larger files in a fraction of the time, according to city officials.

Jim Garlington, an engineer for Motorola, said the network has a bandwidth of one megabyte, compared with the roughly 100 kilobytes available with the old system. The tenfold increase in capacity enables public safety workers to quickly download files containing video footage, mug shots, criminal profiles, building blueprints and other vital data.

City officials noted the importance of having one network for all the public safety agencies in the post-Sept. 11 world, where emergencies can require departments to combine efforts and share information.

“Interoperability is extremely important because there are multiple agencies that respond to these incidents,” said Providence Fire Chief David D. Costa.

Still, the city has just begun to install the technology in its 270-some public safety vehicles. As of last week, just 24 police cars and three sedans from the Providence Fire Department were linked to the new network, officials said. The remaining vehicles still were relying on the old technology.

In the weeks ahead, the city plans to equip between 75 and 100 marked police cars with the new technology, said Providence Police Chief Col. Dean M. Esserman. The department plans to link police vehicles’ existing mobile computers to the new system.

The network is an even larger upgrade for the fire department, which Costa said has not had mobile computers in its emergency vehicles until now.

With computers linked to the new wireless system already in three supervisors’ cars, the department plans put new network-ready laptops in 23 of the department’s fire trucks and six ambulances, the chief said.

Firefighters will be able to use the network to access information about hazardous materials and chemicals in burning buildings, city officials said. At present, Costa added during the news briefing, the firefighters collect such information in large paper binders that they carry to emergencies.

“This is, I believe, the highest-speed wireless network available. It’s got the capability to provide us with our communications needs right now,” Costa said. “I’m hoping to get 10 years out of this system, at least.”

The city purchased the network from Motorola with $2.3 million in federal grants from the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice. Cicilline credited the state’s congressional delegation, especially U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, with securing the grants.