Western North Carolina Law Enforcement Agencies Join Together to Share Information

Open Software Solutions, Inc., expands data sharing solution to include nearly fifty agencies

High Point, NC (PRWEB) October 22, 2003 -- The data sharing initiative that began with seven law enforcement agencies has now expanded to include nearly fifty law enforcement agencies state wide. The pilot project which began in Triad, North Carolina has gained appeal from several agencies in the Western region of the state.

The data sharing project will allow North Carolina law enforcement agencies including Appalachian State, Asheville, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Biltmore Forest, Blowing Rock, Burke, Boone, Buncombe County, Catawba, Catawba County, Claremont, Conover, Hickory, Longview, Morganton, Newton, North Wilkesboro, Sugar Mountain, Valdese, and Watauga County to share information from each agencys records management system. The agencies will have access to information contained in the departments records management systems (RMS) which contains law enforcement related information about people, incidents, vehicles, and property.

On Monday, October 20, representatives from fifteen of the agencies will be trained at Hickory Police Department on how to use the technology. With the help of a High Point company, Open Software Solutions, Inc. (OSSI), the departments will go live in October 2003 with OSSIs P2P (Police to Police) Internet data sharing solution.

Since going live with the initial project in early 2001, departments across the state began to realize the benefits of the data sharing initiative. Now, nearly three years after implementing OSSIs P2P data sharing solution, nearly forty law enforcement agencies are sharing critical information online.    
      
The project was funded by a grant from the Governors Crime Commission. The grant totaling nearly $300,000 is allocated to the entire scope of the project for two years. The grant required a 25% match by the agencies.

About Police to Police (P2P)
OSSIs P2P (Police to Police) solution uses the Internet as a communication infrastructure to enable information sharing while avoiding the problems that have undermined past attempts to share data among law enforcement agencies. Although each participant can view the most current information from each participating agencys RMS, the agency that owns" the data retains complete control of their system and database. Database records are never exported to another system and no agency ever has a direct connection to any other agencys database. Each agencys autonomy, system security, and database integrity are protected by the P2P solution.

About OSSI
Open Software Solutions, Inc. (OSSI), headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, is a leading provider of public safety software for Law Enforcement, Fire and Emergency Medical Services in the United States. OSSI provides a fully integrated suite of public safety products, including Computer Aided Dispatch, Law Enforcement Records Management Systems (RMS), Fire EMS RMS, Jail Management, and Mobile Field Reporting. For more information visit OSSIs website at www.ossiusa.com.

CONTACT:
Tammy Bracken
OSSI Marketing Administrator
336-885-0911
tbracken@ossiusa.com