Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Receives Niche Innovation Awards

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Sergeant Phil Bronson, Business Analyst, RMS Application Support, Communications and Technology Services Bureau

Phone:   +1 705 329 6108

Alan Stauch, Niche Technology Inc.

Phone:         +1 519 748 1804

E-mail:          Alan.Stauch@NicheRMS.com

 ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE (OPP) RECEIVES NICHE INNOVATION AWARDS

OPP Recognized at the Annual Niche User Group Conference

 TORONTO, ON – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was chosen by its peers as the recipient for both the Operational and Administrative categories of the Niche Innovation Award. Given during the annual Niche User Group Conference, the Niche Innovation Award recognizes police agencies and individuals that embody the best use of NicheRMS™ for executing either operational or administrative duties.

“Having the Ontario Provincial Police recognized by the Niche User Group for our innovative approach to using technology in policing is an honour,” said OPP Commissioner J.V.N. (Vince) HAWKES. “Through innovation and reinvestment of resources, we continue to create operational efficiencies that support public and officer safety.”

Under the Operational Category of the Niche Innovation Award, the OPP was selected for the custom application they developed: Voice Activated Law Enforcement Tool (V.A.L.E.T.).  Officers use programmable microphones in police vehicles and detachment work stations to interact with V.A.L.E.T.  The application enables officers to control the application and enter detailed data into NicheRMS using voice commands, resulting in officers spending less time keying in data, enhancing user efficiency.

V.A.L.E.T. also supports evidence-based decision making, reduces repetitive strain injury, reduces stress for front line workers, improves productivity though technology, improves data quality and improves employee time utilization. It enhances the use of NicheRMS and is poised to be transformational to policing in Ontario.

For the Administrative category of the Niche Innovation Award, the OPP was selected for successfully leveraging NicheRMS to meet organizational needs through the use of custom DataWindow Definitions and reports. The OPP is currently consolidating more than 150 independent databases into a centralized solution that improves user access to shared data and improves organizational analytics.

The flexibility of custom DataWindow Definitions allows the OPP to capitalize on NicheRMS for the storage of data that was not previously available, improving organization analytics and efficiency. The OPP is also sharing these techniques with other partners within the Ontario Provincial Technology Information Cooperative (OPTIC) consortium, which allows smaller agencies without dedicated development staff to meet their organizational needs. 

“We are thrilled to acknowledge the Ontario Provincial Police with the Niche Innovation Award,” said Alan Stauch, Niche Technology North American Customer Support Director. “The ways that the OPP uses NicheRMS is exemplary in its innovation and benefits not only the OPP officers and staff, but the citizens they serve.”

About the Ontario Provincial Police

The Ontario Provincial Police is one of North America’s largest deployed police services with more than 5,800 uniformed officers, 2,400 civilian employees and 750 Auxiliary officers. They provide essential services that ensure the safety and security of the people of the Province of Ontario. The vision of the OPP is “Safe Communities…A Secure Ontario”. Our mission is “Committed to public safety, delivering proactive and innovative policing in partnership with our communities.”

About Niche Technology and NicheRMS

NicheRMS software enables law enforcement agencies to report, prevent and solve crime. “We’re turning in detection rates we could only dream of before having NicheRMS,” said Chief Constable Peter Vaughan, QPM, South Wales Police, UK. NicheRMS is licensed to 136,952 sworn officers across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Ten of the largest 30 agencies run NicheRMS in the countries we serve. For more information, please visit www.NicheRMS.com.