Compudyne gives Va. city a public safety face-lift

Not content with outdated equipment for critical services such as police and fire, Chesapeake, Va., has turned to Compudyne Corp. for a major overhaul of its public safety systems.

The Annapolis, Md., company won a $900,000 contract to install new computer-aided dispatch, records management and field reporting systems to serve the city in years ahead.

The new CAD system will work for both the city's police and fire departments. It runs on distributed Microsoft work stations capable of processing critical functions independent of group servers. Thus, if any component fails, the system continues to function.

The new records management system will consolidate and automate records processing and criminal investigations for the city. The contract covers mobile communications via about 275 vehicle-mounted laptops that offer automated report writing.

Compudyne has installed similar systems throughout the mid-Atlantic region in Arlington County, Va., Baltimore, Prince George's County, Md., and Virginia Beach, Va.

Compudyne has more than 750 employees and had annual sales of $141.7 million in fiscal 2005, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.