Nation's Oldest Police Department Uses Newest Technology to Fight Crime

The battered entryway to District Four, Boston's oldest police station, clearly shows signs of its long service. But don't be fooled by the aging façade; this building is home not only to the first paid, professional police department - it's also the birthplace of leading-edge, effective community policing. Fourth District Commander Captain Charles Cellucci takes pride in his district's achievements. "We've moved from reactive to proactive policing," he said.

As police tactics shifted in the mid-1990s from rapid response to community policing, the need grew for rapid, thorough data assessment. "It was difficult to get information," Cellucci recalled. "All reports were handwritten on paper forms, then transcribed into a centralized system. Sometimes the crime statistics were more than 60 days old. By then, it's much too late to take effective action."

To correct that situation, the Police Commission chose Compaq Computer Corporation to develop a citywide Incident Tracking System. The Federal Department of Justice provided a project grant. "Compaq showed the best ability to design and deliver the customized solution we needed," said Cellucci. Compaq developed and deployed the ITS on a Compaq server platform running Microsoft Windows NT Server software. Compaq Services worked closely with the BPD to develop the solution, providing complete project management from the beginning project analysis to bidding the job, delivering the services, planning and budgeting the project, and resolving all issues. The result is the only Microsoft Windows-based, integrated incident tracking system in the country. "They listened carefully and put together the whole team - the program, the hardware, the software - everything," said Tim Carney, application developer for the Department's Information Systems Group (ISG).

An AltaVista Search application allows BPD personnel to use the content-based search capability of AltaVista to search for hard-to-find data, for example, a partial license plate number buried inside the narrative of an Incident Report. Using the power of AltaVista Search (the same search engine used by the FBI and the CIA), the BPD can access all Incident Reports with the same partial license plate number.

In addition to database and application design, Compaq Services provided complete implementation services, which included acceptance testing, documentation, training, and ongoing support. For testing, Compaq ran the pilot program in the Fourth District. "It's just what we needed for effective community policing," said Cellucci. "Now all districts and all systems are talking to each other - booking, photo imaging, detective case management, fingerprinting - and many roadblocks to effective law enforcement are cleared away."

The following New England companies rely on Compaq:

• Brown & Company Securities Corp. - Boston, MA: Brown & Company Securities Corp. is a deep-discount broker. They use Compaq NonStop™ Himalaya™ S-series servers running Securities Industry Software applications, and they are continuing their investment on Compaq ProLiant™ technology in their infrastructure.

• Dictaphone - Stratford, CT: Dictaphone is the world leader in voice telecommunications recording. For over 100 years, Dictaphone has manufactured dictation products. Compaq ProLiant 1600, 3000, and 7000 series Windows NT-based servers and Deskpro™ EN series PCs run a Dictaphone homegrown software solution.

• Genzyme Corporation - Cambridge/Framingham, MA: Genzyme Corporation is a diversified pharmaceutical company that provides 900 human healthcare products and services to consumers. Genzyme's ERP application solution includes QAD's MFG/PRO on AlphaServer 4100 systems running the Tru64™ UNIX operating system.

• Green Mountain Coffee Roasters - Waterbury, VT: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters sells 20 varieties of coffee beans that are ground and processed into about 60 different high-end coffee products which are sold across the country. Compaq ProLiant series servers help run PeopleSoft and Oracle database applications at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

• MicroCast, Inc. - Danbury, CT: MicroCast is the highest capacity U.S. turnkey provider of Internet video streaming services to the media industry. MicroCast has deployed more than 50 terabytes of Compaq SAN storage based on the RAID Array 8000, which is used for streaming video applications in each of its edge sites as well as their data center.

• Nasdaq - Trumbull, CT: Nasdaq relies on Compaq NonStop™ Himalaya servers for the core execution, reporting, comparison, and switching functions that keep its innovative electronic marketplace up and running.

• North East Utilities - Hartford, CT: Northeast Utilities (NU) is the largest electric utility in New England, serving customers in Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. A Compaq solution of Windows NT-based ProLiant 3000 and 6500 servers with additional application servers (a total of 150 servers) serves as NU's energy delivery platform.

• Pitney Bowes, Inc. - Stamford, CT: Pitney Bowes, Inc., is a worldwide developer of cost-effective mail solutions. The company has agreements with the U.S. Post Office to provide equipment to companies for mass mailings. Pitney Bowes runs two six-processor NonStop™ Himalaya S70000 servers and its own Postage-By-Phone application for automatic mailings. Additionally, they have ProLiant 1850R series servers running Insight Manager, Armada™ notebooks, and 400 Deskpro EN series desktops running the Windows NT operating system. They also have hardware/software break/fix services.

• Polaroid Corporation - Waltham, MA: Compaq StorageWorks™ products support its decision support and data warehousing applications.

• Praxair Technology - Danbury, CT: Praxair Technology, Inc., is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and the largest carbon dioxide and helium supplier in the world. The company needed an enterprisewide solution provider that could handle a worldwide rollout. Compaq provided ProLiant servers, Deskpro EN series desktops, and Armada portables for the global account.

• Raytheon Systems Company, Raytheon Electric Systems - Marlboro, MA: AlphaServer technology gives Raytheon the speed and power to implement mission-control systems while exceeding its demanding security and performance specifications.

• SunGard Brokerage Systems - Bedford, MA: SunGard Brokerage Systems, a leading securities transaction processing service provider and operating unit of SunGard Data Systems, Inc., relies on Compaq's fault-tolerant, continuously available NonStop™ Himalaya systems.

• The Boston Police Department (BPD) - Boston, MA: The Boston Police Department is the oldest police department in the United States. The BPD runs an Incident Tracking System, implemented by Compaq, with an AlphaServer 4100 system running the Windows NT operating system. Additionally, they have Visual Interdev, Visual Basic, AltaVista search engine, and Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 installed by Compaq. They also have Armada portables for the department's mobile computing needs.

• The Hartford Life Insurance Company - Hartford, CT: Hartford Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance providers in the United States. In the past decade, Compaq has provided the customer with more than 18,000 MS Exchange seats and improved its data warehousing needs. Since our initial business with Hartford Insurance Company, it has standardized on Compaq desktops, notebooks, portable servers, ProLiant servers, AlphaServer systems, storage equipment, and services.