Big Blue Arms Men in Blue

[Toronto, ONTARIO] While it might be a few decades before gun-slinging robots begin patrolling
Toronto’s dark city streets, the city’s police force has received a tech-savvy,
crime-fighting tool.

Thanks to Big Blue, Toronto’s men in blue will have access to a crime reporting
application known as eCops (Enterprise Case and Occurrence Processing
System). IBM’s infrastructure software, including the company’s DB2 Universal
Database, WebSphere Application Server and MQSeries will serve as the
application’s foundation. eCops will support more than 7,000 users and is
expected to save the organization more than CDN $4-million. DB2 will also
become the new foundation for the organization’s PeopleSoft human resource
application.

Using IBM’s software as the foundation for eCops will provide officers with an
electronic method of processing missing person reports, crime cases and
occurrences, warrants and other criminal information. Data mining technology and
extensive mapping and geocoding will help analyze trends and crime patterns for
faster reaction and more efficient utilization of resources. Wireless access via
mobile laptops and the ability to cross-reference Toronto police data with
international agencies will also be implemented.

“Our goal is to identify problems earlier, address them quickly and reduce the
effect on our communities we are paid to serve,” said Inspector Mike Farrar of
the Toronto Police Service. “The scalability, cost effectiveness and
industry-leading technology found in DB2 will be critical to our success.”

Book ’em, IBM.