IPad cops keeping us safer
How good tech helps police in war on crime
MARK FURLER THERE are 600,000 reasons why Queensland police are interested in Apple’s latest iPad minis.
That’s the number of officer hours being saved a year using the smart mobile technology, which has meant more police on the beat, and far fewer officers tied up doing paperwork.
And the newly released iPad mini, which offers three times the performance and a staggering nine times the graphics power of its predecessor, promises even more efficiency for the 6800 police who have iPad minis.
Powered by the A12 Bionic Chip, which is capable of five trillion operations per second, the $599 iPad Mini is 25 per cent brighter, and now has support for Apple Pencil.
Superintendent Craig Huxley, of Queensland’s Mobility and Innovation unit, says police have come a long way since the days of radioing for information.
“Prior to the delivery of the QPS mobility program, all police officers would receive their job taskings (dispatch) via radio and also undertake person, location and vehicle searches via radio.
“In peak periods, it was not unusual for officers to be in a queue for 20 minutes to make inquiries, whilst dispatchers would prioritise the urgent calls for service amongst routine calls.
“Officers would record information in their notebook or write a paper ticket and then return to the station to input it into the computer systems.”
He says the use of the iPad and the service’s custom apps have led to a safer Queensland – not only for the public, but for officers fighting crime.
“Today, iPad mini is an integral tool to help our frontline officers make smarter, safer decisions.
“By accessing critical information, assessing risks, conducting searches and issuing infringements in the field in real time, our officers can spend more time in the community and less time at their desks doing paperwork.
“For Queensland Police, iPad mini was almost a no brainer. The built-in security of iOS meets our strict requirements, and the mini’s compact size allows our officers to be truly mobile ... our officers like the iPad mini so much that we redesigned their uniform, adding a custom pocket to allow them to quickly secure their device.”
A custom QLiTE app allows officers to access police records and a range of state and national databases.
Police can do searches of persons of interest, vehicles of interest, and locations, returning information including recent photos, warnings and records of previous interactions.
Officers can record a traffic crash, missing persons and domestic violence on the device. They can also issue traffic infringements.
Queensland also has its own purpose-built Mobile Capability Centre with 35 fulltime staff.
Police use five custom apps, which allow more than 35 functions, including roadside drug testing, dispatch tasking, crime reporting and logging.
“There has been a reduction in radio time by over 30 minutes per officer per shift, which has significantly reduced the demand on our communications centres,’’ Supt Huxley says.
“There has been a reduction in general administrative time by approximately 30 minutes through the logging and simplified one-off data entry and we are seeing significant time savings in dealing with domestic violence matters through simplified data entry.”
Supt Huxley said during the recent Townsville floods, QPS officers worked in partnership with the Australian Defence Force and used their QLiTE devices to access the CAD system to identify where people were most at risk and respond to urgent calls.
Supt Huxley said Queensland Police would be upgrading to the new iPad minis through its Telstra deal.
“Our fleet of 6800 iPad minis are refreshed based on a two-year lifespan, there will be a transition to the new iPad mini once stock is commercially available.” infield
Death of AirPower offers rivals chance
WIRELESS charging is one of the selling points of the latest mobile phones – and even Apple’s new Air Pods 2.
So when Apple officially killed off its AirPower product, you could almost hear the global groan of its fans.
Apple had touted the product in September 2017 – a product to charge your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time.
When the company went quiet on the product, reports emerged Apple was having issues with the multicoil design of the charging pad and was struggling to solve overheating problems.
Apple finally admitted defeat, citing an inability to achieve the high standards it WIRELESS: Belkin's wireless chargers. expects from its products.
But it’s a market that third parties will quickly fill.
Belkin is the number one third-party maker of wireless charging accessories, offering products ranging from a Qicertified 5W wireless charging pad for $39.95 to 15-watt standup versions for about $100.
Qi is an established evolving wireless charging standard that is backed by more than 200 leading companies. Some standard Qi products include the iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy Note8.
Belkin advises wattage and speed are important when considering what charger to buy, as specific phones are most efficiently charged by a particular wattage.
For example, iPhones best charge at 7.5W, but this doesn’t mean that they won’t charge on a 10W charger. It’s about finding out what is the most efficient for your device.