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DETERS: Integrating Today's Technologies in Tomorrow's Emergency Response System

NCJ Number
122363
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1990) Pages: 26,27,29-30,32,34
Author(s)
W Hart
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The Detroit Emergency Response System (DETERS) developed by the Detroit Police Department incorporates five distinct emergency-response functions while conducting a massive two-way flow of information between field personnel and command stations.
Abstract
The system receives more than 2 million calls per year, about 800,000 of which are police runs. DETERS took 5 years and $20 million to develop and began a testing phase in March 1989. Its five components include an enhanced 911 system that displays the call's origin, computer-aided dispatch, mobile data terminals that provide digital exchanges of information using keyboards and video monitors, an automatic vehicle location unit, and graphic workstations that provide the dispatcher with a graphic display terminal. DETERS uses seven computerized workstations and makes it possible to identify, specify the exact location, and calculate the estimated time of arrival of each vehicle in the system. When the system enters fulltime operation, the city will consider expanding its functions to include other services besides emergency responses. Photographs.