Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 Source: Cape Breton Post (CN NS) Copyright: 2006 Cape Breton Post Contact: http://www.capebretonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/777 Author: Chris Hayes Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) BLACKBERRYS FRONT AND CENTRE IN FIGHT AGAINST CRIME Sydney - Police in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality have become the first in Canada to use BlackBerrys in the fight against crime. Listening to endorsements from front-line officers at a press conference Wednesday to unveil the OnPatrol program, other police forces across the country may also want to join the digital age. Drug squad constable Steve Nagy saw the wireless hand-held BlackBerrys as a big advantage in stakeouts or drug-house takedowns because they allow police to communicate with each other, headquarters or even the Canadian Police Information Centre in Ottawa without going out over scanners that can be overheard by the public or criminals. "There's nothing in Scannerland, as they say," said Nagy, who was among the first 50 officers in the Cape Breton Regional Police Service to be armed with a BlackBerry. "In all the drug raids we go on, you always see a scanner." BlackBerrys give users access to wireless hand-held e-mail, cellphone service, paging and the Internet. Police on regular patrol can use BlackBerrys for everyday queries about people or vehicles without returning to their cars or waiting for their turn to get a reply from a dispatch operator who may be handling several requests, said Sgt. Tom Ripley. "I can do my own queries," he said. "It's instantaneous." Ripley said as a police crisis negotiator, he also doesn't want certain information going out over the airwaves where people with scanners can hear him. BlackBerrys can also be linked to a GPS system which will indicate where a police officer is at all times, a feature that appealed to Const. Erin Donovan. "It's a great feature to have just in the event that if one of us does go missing they can know exactly where we are," she said. "They can locate us right away." The OnPatrol program is available to police forces across Atlantic Canada now that a secure server has been installed at the headquarters of the Cape Breton Regional Police in Sydney, said John Taker, of the service provider, Aliant, and its information technology company, xwave. He can see a day when many police forces across Canada will use the OnPatrol program, perhaps in addition to mobile data terminals in patrol cars, if the price is right. "It's quite possible we could see this on every police officer's belt." Chief Edgar MacLeod, who started work at a time when police call boxes were still installed on Charlotte Street in Sydney, said it was a proud day for his force. Newspapers, television and radio stations across Canada will also lose their source for breaking police stores as scanners are replaced by digital technology like BlackBerrys. Bryan Cantley, of the Canadian Newspaper Association, said it will be following the matter closely. "No one can argue against effective crime fighting tools," he said. "But if it becomes a way for the police to deny the media access to events unfolding that are the public's right to know about, then this should be a concern for all of us, including the public." Director of technology Bobby McNeil said the regional municipality paid $99 for each of the 100 Blackberrys it has ordered so far and will pay its service provider $54 a month for each user. It's a cheap option compared to the cost of equipping police cars with laptop computers, which was another option that had been considered, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake