Text-to-speech app becomes virtual partner

Sometimes just a shift in perspective can solve a glaring problem.

Sometimes just a shift in perspective can solve a glaring problem.That's what happened to Jeff Rubenstein, a Delray Beach, Fla., reserve police officer, who switched from night work to the daytime beat a few years ago. On sunny afternoons, he couldn't read the screen on the notebook PC in his cruiser because of glare.Rubenstein hit upon the idea of using text-to-speech software that could read aloud license plate and other vehicle information involved in a routine traffic stop.Rubenstein, who before joining the police had been president of Internet service provider CyberGate Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., found himself catapulted back into the IT world. He is now president of Advanced Public Safety Inc. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., maker of Virtual Partner, the software inspired by Rubenstein's days in the too-sunny squad car.Now, Virtual Partner is used by more than 300 police departments in the United States and Canada. One, in Aventura, Fla., has seen officer safety improve and unpaid tickets decline as a result of using the software.In a typical traffic stop, an officer will run the car's license plate information through FBI's National Crime Information Center 2000 system, as well as the Florida Motor Vehicles Department database, said Aventura Police Sgt. Tom Labombarda.Before an officer even gets out of the car, Virtual Partner will send a voice response back, letting him know if the tag is valid or the car possibly is stolen. The software also lets the officer know if the driver is a habitual traffic offender, has a valid license and registration or is wanted on an arrest warrant. The officer receives this information without having to take his eyes off the subject."That's a huge officer safety benefit," Labombarda said.Virtual Partner uses a human voice, not a computerized, robotic-sounding voice, he said.Mobile thermal printers from Zebra Technologies Corp. of Vernon Hills, Ill., also were installed in 26 Aventura, Fla., Police Department cars, Labombarda said. The Bluetooth printers are distributed by Advanced Public Safety."Every year, 150,000 citations in the state are dismissed because of bad handwriting and simple errors," Labombarda said. Florida was losing as much as $10 million each year in unpaid tickets.Now with Virtual Partner, officers use a pull-down menu to select the violation and issue the citation, reducing the possibility of error. As a result, tickets aren't contested in court as often, and more tickets are paid.Traffic stops also take less time with Virtual Partner, and there's been an unexpected side effect ? fewer complaints against officers, Labombarda said.With the new software, filling out and printing a citation takes about a minute. An electronic copy of the ticket is sent automatically via FTP over a wireless network from Verizon Communications Inc. of New York to the department's records management system from SunGard HTE Inc. of Lake Mary, Fla."The longer an officer is on a traffic stop with a subject, the longer the subject has to think about it, and the longer the person has to get angry," Labombarda said. "Now, because the stops are faster, people don't have as much time to react."Virtual Partner works with any Microsoft Windows operating system and overlays the mobile data terminal the department already has, Labombarda said. "It works with all of them," he said.That had been a concern for Aventura, which had invested millions of dollars in its records management system and other law enforcement technology. That Virtual Partner worked with its equipment was definitely a plus, Labombarda said.Aventura runs Virtual Partner on Dell notebooks, most of them with Windows XP. Officers also use the software on handheld devices equipped with bar-code scanners from Symbol Technologies Inc. of Holtsville, N.Y., to scan driver's licenses.Symbol's mobile devices were chosen because they are rugged and allow data captured to be transmitted in real time, said Bill Hartwell, Symbol's vice president for its federal business."In the case of Advanced Public Safety, the Symbol MC50 allows these law enforcement professionals to replace a cell phone, PDA and pager with one converged mobile device," Hartwell said.Virtual Partner "was developed by cops for cops," Labombarda said. "The majority of software vendors out there have little law enforcement experience. When [Rubenstein] wrote this program, he did it to make his job easier. And most of his technical people he works with are former law enforcement officers."Trudy Walsh is a senior writer with Government Computer News. She can be reached at twalsh@postnewsweektech.com. If you have an innovative solution that you recently installed in a government agency, contact Staff Writer Doug Beizer at .

TechSuccess: IT solutions in action

Project: Text-to-speech software for police work
Agency: Aventura, Fla., Police Department

Partners: Advanced Public Safety Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., SunGard HTE Inc. and Symbol Technologies Inc.

Goal: Provide officers with the data they need during traffic stops and other calls. Make it easier for them to get that information while maintaining their focus on the suspect. Improve citation writing, which had been troublesome because of poor handwriting.

Obstacles: No single solution existed to meet all the goals.

Solution: Several pieces of software and hardware including mobile thermal printers, handheld devices and notebook computers were integrated to create Virtual Partner.

Payoff: Officer safety has improved, and unpaid tickets are on the decline in Aventura, Fla.

Aventura, Fla., Police Officer Aldo Alfonso uses Virtual Partner on a handheld device.










































dbeizer@postnewsweektech.com

NEXT STORY: FCC gives OK to telecom mergers

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.