Topic hub
Public Safety Technology
Dispatch, records, NG911, evidence, mobile systems, and the data and compliance work that surrounds them.
Public safety systems run continuously, hold the most tightly regulated data in local government, and are judged by whether they work at three in the morning during a storm. Agencies buy the core platforms, so most of the technology work is integration, data, and the tools that sit around those platforms.
These pages cover connecting dispatch and records to the systems around them, the GIS data quality that Next Generation 911 turns into a life-safety concern, digital evidence workflows, the CJIS Security Policy in practical terms, and publishing operational data without exposing information that must be withheld.
HQT capabilities in this area
- Public Safety & Mission SoftwareSoftware and integration for dispatch, records, emergency management, and the systems that support first responders.
Services
- CAD & RMS Integration
- Public Safety Data & Analytics
- Next Generation 911 Readiness
- Digital Evidence & Records Workflows
- Field & Mobile Applications
- Simulation & Training Software
- Emergency Management & Situational Awareness
- Traffic & Infrastructure Monitoring Software
- Network Engineering & Operations
- CJIS & Regulatory Compliance
- Cloud Architecture & Migration
- Identity & Access Management
Solutions by agency type
- Cybersecurity for County GovernmentsSecurity programs spanning health, human services, justice, elections, and public works, each with its own regulatory obligations.
- Cybersecurity for Public Safety AgenciesProtecting dispatch, records, and mobile systems under the CJIS Security Policy without compromising availability.
- Software Development for County GovernmentsModernizing case management, integrating departmental systems, and building the tools commercial platforms leave out.
- Cloud and Enterprise IT for County GovernmentsConsolidating departmental infrastructure and running enterprise services across dozens of independent departments.
- Data and Analytics for County GovernmentsCross-departmental reporting, outcome measurement, and data sharing that respects confidentiality rules.
- Data and Analytics for Public SafetyOperational reporting, state mandates, and public transparency built from dispatch and records data.
- Mission Software and Integration for Public SafetyConnecting dispatch, records, evidence, courts, and GIS, and building the tools vendors do not provide.
- Public Safety and Justice Software for CountiesIntegration across sheriff, probation, jail, courts, and prosecutors, and the reporting that spans them.
- Software Development for Public Safety AgenciesModernizing in-house applications, building public-facing services, and delivering releases for agencies that never go offline.
- Cloud and Enterprise IT for Public Safety AgenciesCloud migration, networks, identity, and recovery for dispatch and records systems that have to stay available and stay within CJIS rules.
Step-by-step guides
- How to prepare for a CJIS auditPreparation steps for agencies and their IT departments ahead of a CJIS Security Policy audit, covering scope, evidence, and common findings.
- How to plan a cloud migration for an agencyA practical sequence for moving agency workloads to cloud services, from inventory and disposition through cutover and cost control.
Reference articles
- CAD and RMS: how dispatch and records systems work togetherHow computer aided dispatch and records management divide the work in a police or fire agency, and the interfaces that join them.
- Scheduling software for 24/7 shift workforces: police, fire, and dispatchHow shift scheduling systems for police, fire, and dispatch handle minimum staffing, overtime callback lists, and audit trails.
- Tabletop exercise: a CAD outage at a 911 centerHow to run a tabletop exercise for a 911 center CAD outage, from declaring continuity to rebuilding the call record.
- Writing an incident response plan a small agency team can followWhat belongs in an incident response plan a small agency team can follow, from severity levels to who approves a public statement.
- Public safety data transparency: reporting that informs without exposingThe state mandates and community expectations for public safety data, and how to publish it responsibly.
- Cloud, SaaS, colocation, or on-premises: choosing where agency workloads runHow public cloud, vendor-hosted SaaS, colocation, and on-premises infrastructure differ, and the criteria an agency uses to choose.
- Emergency operations center software and mass notification systemsHow EOC incident management software differs from mass notification, including the IPAWS path and the opt-in alerting channels agencies run.
- 988 and mobile crisis technology: call handling, dispatch, and bed dataHow 988 call handling, mobile crisis dispatch, bed registries, and follow-up records fit together for counties.
- Choosing a disaster recovery site: distance, hosting, and network pathsHow agencies weigh separation distance, hosting options, and network paths when choosing a disaster recovery site.
- Scoping a penetration test: rules of engagement and deliverablesHow agencies define engagement types, authorization, testing windows, deliverables, and a required retest in a penetration test solicitation
- Security awareness training and phishing simulations for agency staffHow to run security awareness training and phishing simulations that change staff behavior and still satisfy auditors and insurers
- Running an agency service desk: tiers, service catalog, and metricsHow agency IT teams set up a service catalog, intake and triage, support tiers, priority rules, and the metrics worth reporting.
- Vendor AI disclosure: what to require about AI inside products you already ownHow agencies can require vendors to disclose AI features added to software they already own, and act on the answers.
- License plate reader data: retention, sharing, and auditsHow agencies set ALPR retention limits, control who may query reads, govern sharing networks, and audit the program.
- GIS in local government: what it does and how it is builtThe role of geographic information systems across agency functions and the components of a modern GIS.
- Network segmentation for local governmentWhy flat networks are dangerous, how to divide them, and how to do it without breaking operations.
- Run your own security operations or buy monitoring as a serviceFour models for continuous security monitoring, what each asks of staff and contracts, and how response decisions stay with the agency.
- Cyber insurance readiness: a checklist for public agenciesWork through this checklist before completing a cyber insurance application or renewal so every answer you give is backed by evidence.
- Data breach notification: what agencies must do after an incidentHow state breach notification laws generally work for public entities: what triggers notice, what it must say, who else is told, and what vendor contracts need to say.
- Physical security for server rooms, network closets, and devicesHow agencies control and log access to equipment spaces, manage power and water risk, and document media disposal for assessors.
- Fire and EMS records reporting: NFIRS, NERIS, and NEMSISHow fire incident reporting and EMS patient care records work: NFIRS, NERIS, NEMSIS, CAD times, and outcome exchange.
- Working with a managed service provider: scope, service levels, and oversightHow agencies scope an MSP contract, set service levels and credits that mean something, and keep oversight of vendor access.
From the blog
- Address data is the hardest data a local government owns
- An acceptable use policy for generative AI should govern data, not tools
- CJIS for software teams: what actually changes when you touch criminal justice data
- Running a ransomware tabletop exercise with city leadership
- A SOC 2 report is evidence, not a certificate
- Boring technology is the right default for systems that must run for a decade
- What a screen reader finds that an accessibility scanner does not
- If you only do one security project this year, make it multi-factor authentication
- The accessibility rule for state and local websites is not a future problem
- Zero Trust without buying a Zero Trust platform
- GIS data quality becomes a life-safety issue under NG911
- API-first integration for agencies that own a dozen vendor systems
- Patching is boring, and that is the point
- Notes on rolling out passkeys to a workforce