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New Zealand Frontline Police Get Apple Devices in Efficiency Measure
mask.of.sanity writes "Thousands of New Zealand frontline police will be armed with smartphones and tablets from this year in an efficiency initiative that the force hopes will save millions of dollars. NZ Police say the devices are Apple iPhones and iPads. These will be password protected and can be wiped remotely if lost. Police declined to say if the devices and their communications will be encrypted."
nice SPOF Apple is setting up, hack Apple and get the keys to every castle in every land !
By buying a ton of most expensive hardware you can find.... brilliant.
frontline police will be armed with smartphones and tablets
Must be an updated version of ET.
in getting the details that lead to link "efficiency", "police" and "Apple products".
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
"Police declined to say if the devices and their communications will be encrypted."
In other words, they aren't. Otherwise, which reason would the police to not tell?
I'm sure it'd hurt like hell getting hit in the head by an iPhone a cop threw but wouldn't it be cheaper to arm them with pointed sticks?
Apple employees will be remotely wiping the devices when names of friends show up on searches / arrest lists.
This will NOT end well.
How the hell can they say it will save costs when they chose the most abhorrently expensive devices to start with - not to mention the shoddy workmanship will require additional expenditures to place them in ruggedized cases just to keep them all from dying in the first 20 minutes of use.
Pointed sticks would raise all sorts of civil rights issues.
Apple's Patent Rounded Corners(tm) can subdue perps in a genteel manner, while also curing dropsy and the marthambles.
So they will "save millions of dollars" by spending how much exactly? I'm sure it adds up if you use the new math.
-Lod
I've got an angry bird and I'm not afraid to use him!
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
There is nothing new about police using Mobile Data Terminals (or Mobile Computing Devices, or whatever the current buzzword is in that field). They've been doing it for years, as have outfits like FedEx. The only thing new about smart phones is that they're being to consumers.
However, using consumer grade stuff is different. The police, commercial (FedEx, etc.) stuff is much more expensive, but also *much* more rugged. Drop it into a puddle, kick it, throw it, whatever, and it still works fine. The iPhones will be getting trashed left and right. Whether it makes more sense to buy cheap but essentially disposable stuff, or expensive but rugged and long-lived stuff, remains to be seen. It might make sense, or it might wind up being penny wise and pound foolish.
Here in Philadelphia they spent millions on a new radio system (Motorola?) only to have it not work. If this allows for better and more consistent communication for their PD, then I hope it works. I like Apple products, but I'd be happy to see it succeed with whichever ecosystem worked. Plus without having to establish, manage, maintain the (radio) system it runs on, I can see it saving money regardless of how much iDevices may cost.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
Vodafone is the mobile network provider of choice for NZ Police and will also supply the force with the devices in a decade-long deal, with the initial three-month rollout costing NZ$4.3 million (A$2.75 million). Officers will use two specific apps — eQuip for access to the Police National Intelligence Application for information on people, vehicles and locations, and Mobile Responder (pdf), which provides maps of where staff and colleagues are — as well as standard office type programs such as email and calendars. Police conducted an 11-month trial last year with over 100 staff in four districts around the country, and found that the devices provided a half-hour productivity gain per officer and shift. In total, NZ Police expects to save 520,000 hours each year for the 6086 smart device equipped officers, worth up to NZ$304.8 million (A$248 million) over 12 years. Over that period, NZ Police will spend NZ$159 million (A$129 million) in operating expenditure to fund the smart device initiative..... Apparently the savings comes in the form of man hours. I wonder how many man hours will be lost to the unnecessary apps installed on the devices?
Let's hope they don't need the maps feature!
Valid point. I helped the local public safety and pd departments deploy "MDT"s nearly 10 years ago. Some of the original equipment is still in use and AFAIK nearly all of it was retired in upgrades, not because of failure. They are rugged, actually somewhat indestructible. They have hardware and software interfaces tailored to the unique demands of an officer in the field and are well proven.
Using flashy consumer grade tech toys in the field sounds like an uninformed executive's special recipe for failure. It's very hard to imagine what possible advantage a general purpose, light duty device would have over the highly refined and specialized solutions that are available (and have been in use since long before the current tech fads).
-Lod
iPhone and iPad are automatically encrypted out of box when you put a password on them.
The communications would only be encrypted if they use a VPN which I'm sure they will for any applications..
In other words, they aren't. Otherwise, which reason would the police to not tell?
It's not the police declining to say, it's the ignorant article writers declining to research.
All recent Apple iOS devices are encrypted by default. That's how the remote wipe works quickly, it just tosses the key for the whole device.
The communications being encrypted is the more important issue.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It is not as easy as you're lead to believe.
Better in most regards (all?),
It has much less software, and a worse screen.
NFC and a "barometer" are useless to police.
And what about support? Apple has extensive worldwide support. Can you honestly say the same for Google hardware (hint: NO).
You are just not thinking about the total package here.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple employees will be remotely wiping the devices when names of friends show up on searches / arrest lists.
You don't know how the remote wipes work, do you? That's not possible nor would it even help if you spent one second thinking about how police would use the devices.
This will NOT end well.
Not for Apple Haters, no. Because more the despised Apple products are showing deep value again.
How the hell can they say it will save costs when they chose the most abhorrently expensive devices to start with
Curious how a device can be "abhorrently" expensive. It sure seems like you have some deep emotional issues you're bringing to the table there.
iOS devices are a LITTLE more expensive. But for instance, what if they needed cell capability? What other "less abhorrent" tablet with baked in cellular support would they buy pray-tell?
And what about support? What other tablet has the level of support Apple offers in that region?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Consumer grade tech is much cheaper and far more readily available... While the devices may break more often, replacements and spare parts are easily acquired when necessary.
The cheaper cost and more rapid replacement also makes it easier to upgrade to newer devices in the future, rather than being stuck with ancient legacy devices that cannot easily adapt to changing needs and end up being resented by the people who use them.
Also, employees are far more likely to already be familiar with consumer devices, and thus require less training on their use.
And while some of these specialised devices may be "highly refined", this is often not the case... Many may do their existing job well, but are difficult to adapt for changing requirements and will serve new purposes very badly or not at all. Similarly because such devices are highly specialized there are very few suppliers of them and the market is very hard to break into, so you often end up with devices suffering from many serious flaws and no willingness from the manufacturers to fix them because they have you locked in anyway.
Consider the parallel with desktop computers... Mainframes and highend unix systems with dumb terminals were reliable, powerful, easy to centrally manage and yet they got replaced by cheap individual non redundant desktop computers running extremely fragile and easily damaged software...
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Good grief, after wading through all the virulent apple-haterism we find really practical reasons why they went with iOS devices all the way down here at the bottom - software, and the fact that the full range of iOS devices come with cellular data support.
It probably doesn't hurt that they also have a wider range of choices for durable protective cases.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
When you're getting ID-d, instead of having to radio home to an operator who the gets your record from the computer and radios it back, they can just use an app to get the data.
I hope they get trained to hold it right.
Or get proper directions for that matter.
New Zealand police outfits changing to black turtlenecks and jeans in cost saving measure. Chief quoted saying traditional black with warm/cold weather turtlenecks and rugged jeans are an ideal pair. New Zealand police now driving Porsches as cost saving measure. Chief quoted saying they can cover twice the distance in half the time. New Zealand police adding all-aluminum ships to coastal fleet. Chief quoted saying this is actually a terrible idea... New Zealand police now recognize Opposite Day as official holiday.
Are the police going to start writing like teens? What of the problems of autocorrect?
-]Phreak Out[-
So they wholesale swap out to the latest new Apple product. What happens when Apple comes out with version x+1, x+2 etc next year.. What if their app or some functionality changes on x+1 or x+2 they they needed or relied on? Now they are in the same boat stuck with multiple pieces of old equipment with potentially different capabilities and compatibilities. or they are stuck buying used ones from ebay. One of the major factors for Apple in the enterprise is they do not have a published or predictable timeline and roadmap. It does not mean much to consumers but for big business and government it does.
The same thing is happening in the aviation world-- most aircrews are required to carry around several thick, heavy binders around with them all the time, and always keep them up to date by pulling and replacing a bunch of pages every month or two. I'd guess your average pubs bag weighs 30-40 pounds, depending on the aircraft and crew position. iPads are becoming common as a replacement.
This is the sort of thing a tablet is perfect for-- content consumption. In an otterbox it's plenty durable, the battery lasts a long time, it has a big, pretty, readable display, and in the long run it will actually save money over paper. You no longer have to issue a full set of pubs to everyone (initial issue can cost several hundred dollars), updates are basically free, and hilariously there's also a measurable fuel savings due to the hundred-odd pounds of paper you're no longer hauling all over the world. It's not a perfect system, and there's work to do on the updating process and overall formatting (I lose all my annotations every time there's an update, and the PDF files don't come with nearly enough bookmarks), but most of those problems come from the fact that pubs are currently written to be printed. Once they're formatted with a tablet in mind, I expect things to get better.
Obviously the article's implementation of the technology is quite different, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are similar advantages to be had for a police force. Remember that the iPads are likely cheaper than the laptops they are replacing, or if there aren't laptops to replace (the article doesn't say) they are saving man-hours somewhere. Labor is expensive.
Those sorts of contracts should be done in a phased rollout where they pay a bit then roll out some stuff and test it and then pay for it. There's no reason to be locked in for millions for a system that doesn't work.
I wrap my stolen phones in tinfoil.
I double-dog-dare you to remote wipe them!
Consumer grade tech is much cheaper and far more readily available... While the devices may break more often, replacements and spare parts are easily acquired when necessary.
We're talking about field equipment used by law enforcement here. An officer in pursuit of a suspect, responding to an emergency, etc is not going to just pop into the local best buy and replace critical equipment.
The cheaper cost and more rapid replacement also makes it easier to upgrade to newer devices in the future, rather than being stuck with ancient legacy devices that cannot easily adapt to changing needs and end up being resented by the people who use them.
I'm not sure what the origin of this straw man is, but the officers I work with are quite happy with the devices currently in use. They have access to a wide variety of county and state services, with new capabilities being added quite often. For instance, they recently added the ability to do an on scene photo line up that allows victims to identify suspects only moments after they have been apprehended (and without having to confront the suspect personally, a major roadblock to getting charges brought against criminals involved in gang related activity). Trust me, the officers do *not* resent being given tools that help them get these guys off the street.
Also, employees are far more likely to already be familiar with consumer devices, and thus require less training on their use.
Training is part of an officer's life and it goes far beyond what someone would pick up just using something around the house anyway. This is why they are given quite a bit of driving instruction despite most likely being familiar with how to operate an automobile in a civilian capacity. They learn how to operate their weapons, communications and computing equipment in a way that is very different than someone would use a device in their home. This will be true regardless of whether their equipment is a consumer grade device or a professional tool.
And while some of these specialised devices may be "highly refined", this is often not the case... Many may do their existing job well, but are difficult to adapt for changing requirements and will serve new purposes very badly or not at all. Similarly because such devices are highly specialized there are very few suppliers of them and the market is very hard to break into, so you often end up with devices suffering from many serious flaws and no willingness from the manufacturers to fix them because they have you locked in anyway.
Vendor lock in is obviously not a concern here, as they have selected Apple devices.
Consider the parallel with desktop computers... Mainframes and highend unix systems with dumb terminals were reliable, powerful, easy to centrally manage and yet they got replaced by cheap individual non redundant desktop computers running extremely fragile and easily damaged software...
In cases where lives depend on computing, you will absolutely will not find consumer grade PCs used for critical roles. You will however find quite a few mainframes and high end unix systems.
-Lod
the phones and tablets arel all be locked down, on a private VPN and only get approved apps/updates from police IT. The iphone lets you have a corporate app store, which likely will not include Angry Birds.
Using a foreign Australian newspaper for a New Zealand story is about the same as using a Mexican newspaper to report on an issue in the U.S.
The New Zealand newspaper of record is the New Zealnd Herald which carried this story 3 weeks agao (when it was topical) - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776556
Oh! and sweet as bro.
Regards Sinesurfer A Nerd is someone who lives for technology, A Geek is someone who lives for technology and loves it
I can't even imagine how bad they will be when they all have iTrinkets and think they are even more superior and untouchable.
Do you really really know what an Internet troll is?
C'mon!
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
bad enough in nz to warrant police?