Victoria Police awards Motorola a $50m mobility deal

Victoria Police has awarded a consortium led by Motorola Solutions Australia a >$50 million contract to deliver a managed mobility solution based on iPads and iPhones, designed to allow police to spend more time in the field.

The five-year contract has the potential to be extended to 11 years. It involves the delivery of more than 10,000 iPhones and iPad minis to police, as well as mobile network services, mobile applications and support services.

The devices will be used to capture evidence, conduct identity checks and swiftly report crime while in the field, allowing police to spend more time on patrol and less time at their desks filling out paperwork.

Motorola’s solution will be designed to improve workforce collaboration and vital information sharing between frontline officers and colleagues in control rooms.

It will also allow police to offload lower priority traffic from the core radio communications network to mobile devices, freeing up the airwaves for essential emergency communications.

Consortium member Optus will provide the network for the service, while local IT provider CompNow will supply devices, logistics and device repair services.

The solution will also incorporate mPol, a policing mobile platform developed by Collingwood-based Gridstone, which Motorola acquired in November last year.

“Many public safety and enterprise businesses today are looking to improve the way they manage their daily workflows through the use of mobile applications that can simplify their most complex work challenges,” Motorola Solutions VP and managing director Steve Crutchfield said.

“We will provide Victoria Police with a mobility managed service that is highly secure, reliable and helps to free up more time for frontline police to work in their communities where they are needed most.”

The first devices under the project will be issued in the middle of the year, and Victoria Police plans to have around 8500 deployed by the end of 2019.

The project forms part of the Victorian Government’s commitment to invest $227 million in police technology.

Image courtesy of Dave Conner under CC

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