Computer 101

SWTC has joined with the Sheriff’s Association of Texas to go on-site at locations around Texas to train law enforcement personnel in basic computer skills and the elements of the Microsoft Office Suite in situations where there is otherwise no viable access to such training.

Sheriffs in 107 of the 254 counties in Texas responded to a SAT survey offering to bring the classes to the Sheriff’s offices if they committed to at least 5 participants.

In the first round of training, fifty counties will act as hosts, drawing in a total of 702 participants locally and from surrounding counties. A mobile classroom with 20 laptop computers and a self-contained network has been assembled. Classes began the week of August 7th.

The initial course offering will introduce users to Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Middle Rio Grande Development Council Project

The vast Rio Grande region of Texas presents a number of public safety challenges. Dispersed resources and diverse constituencies make effective and timely communication between public safety and law enforcement agencies difficult.

The Southwest Public Safety Technology Center and the Sheriffs' Association of Texas is developing a regional public safety radio communications system that will ultimately provide improved coverage for and interoperability between participating public safety service providers across the entire nine county region of the Middle Rio Grande Development Council.

The system proposed by the SWTC Technology Assistance Division will provide improved radio communications for local, tribal, state, and federal public safety providers across the region. To date, 24 regional agencies are actively contributing to the plan. The system design phase has been completed, the infrastructure vendor has been selected and a detailed design review and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensing are currently underway.

The first phase of infrastructure deployment is scheduled for the end of 2005. Contingent on further successful spectrum acquisition and licensing, and continued funding, it is anticipated the project will be completed in early 2008.

Hurricane Rita Recovery

The SWTC Technology Assistance Division provided technology support to public safety providers in the Southeast Texas area during the Hurricane Rita recovery. The Technology Assistance Division transmitted emails and Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS) messages to all 254 Sheriffs’ offices across the state solicited manpower and equipment support for those counties suffering the most severe damage. The resulting offers of assistance were logged then dispatched as requested by officials in the affected counties.

Additionally, the Technology Assistance Division arranged for the acquisition and deployment of four radio communications gateways in the affected area to provide interoperable public safety communications in the affected region. The Technology Assistance Division also coordinated with the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Southeast to have a communications engineer travel to the affected region to assist state and local law enforcement agencies restore damaged or destroyed communications systems and to provide support for the communications gateways deployed to the region.

Further, the Technology Assistance Division coordinated with the National Institute of Justice and arranged for the deployment of two powered parachutes for use in search and rescue in the region. Additionally, the Technology Assistance Division coordinated the deployment of a team from the National Institute of Justice to provide disaster mapping in the affected region. Technology Assistance Division staff also provided liaison between local officials requesting equipment, such as generators, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) personnel who could provide such equipment.

Webb County Project

The Technology Assistance Division is currently acting on a request by the Webb County, Texas, Sheriff and the Webb County Commissioners Court to assist them in making cost effective decisions regarding potential public safety communications improvements in the Webb County region. The Technology Assistance Division requested that the Southeast Center assign an engineer to provide an initial infrastructure analysis and propagation studies comparing system requirements for both a VHF infrastructure and an 800 MHz infrastructure.

Website Development

During the past decade, the Internet has developed into the public’s preferred communications medium and information resource. Governments at all levels are meeting the demand for transparency and responsiveness by using the Web as a portal to the services they provide. While great strides have been made, the budget and resource limitations of medium and small rural law enforcement agencies hinder their ability to connect with their served communities.

The goal of the Website Development Project is to provide assistance to agencies desiring to have a web presence but lacking the budget or the in-house resources to do so.