City Of Milpitas Launches Wi-Fi Network For Cops

The city of Milpitas, Calif., this week launched a five-square-mile high-speed wireless network for its police.

The Wi-Fi network, built on equipment supplied by Tropos Networks, gives police officers in-vehicle access to a variety of broadband applications, including crime databases, records-management systems- and traffic-video feeds.

Access to the applications will eventually be expanded to motorcycle patrols and the city's Fire Department. The San Francisco suburb also intends to double the size of the network to cover the entire city, comprising 63,000 residents.

Police officers can access the network using Wi-Fi-enabled data terminals installed in more than 30 patrol cars. The system can deliver applications that were unavailable through the city's older low-bandwidth system.

With the new system, police can access the California photo and gang databases, records and photos from the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the city's computer-aided dispatch system. The network also delivers video from cameras monitoring high-traffic areas.The Fire Department plans to use the system to access hazardous-materials databases, traffic video, and mobile-dispatch applications. Municipal workers--such as building inspectors, traffic engineers, and code-enforcement officers--are also expected to use the network.