Ric hardson Police D epartment Saves Time and Improves Ac cess Control with RFID Before an officer of the Richardson (Texas) Police Department goes on patrol, he or she is responsible for verifying that everything that belongs in the squad car is there. Officers spent up to 15 minutes each shift recording the serial number from every radio, shotgun, citation printer and other piece of equipment in the vehicle. Time that used to be spent looking for assets and recording serial numbers can now be spent on patrol, because of an RFID system that completes the pre-shift inventory process in seconds. “In less than a minute the officer is ready to roll,” says Richardson Police Chief Jimmy Spivey. “You multiply 15 minutes a day saved by all the officers every day of the week, and the system is a massive time saver.” A secure Xerafy RFID tag has been permanently affixed to each in-vehicle asset. The officer coming on shift uses a handheld computer with integrated RFID reader to do a quick sweep of the vehicle. Using a software application developed by GlobeRanger, the reader automatically identifies all the assets in the vehicle and records their serial numbers plus a time/date stamp of the transaction. The transaction updates the chain-of-custody record in real time so the Richardson PD always has a record of which officer last had every specific piece of equipment. More importantly, the application issues an alert if any assets that are supposed to be in the vehicle are missing, so they can be located or replaced prior to the officer going on patrol.
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Richardson Police Department Saves Time and Improves Access Control with RFID 1
The Richardson PD extended RFID tracking to its cars after successfully using the technology to manage uniforms. Because of growing concerns about police impersonators,
and
with
a
goal
to
enhance
accountability, the Department desired a more efficient method to track uniforms. “Old pieces didn’t always get turned in when officers were issued new ones,” says Martin. “After a while our record keeping systems got out of synch and it was hard to tell just what was out there. We periodically had to have all officers bring in all their uniform pieces for a manual inventory, which was a big project.” help it find the best tags and adhesives for the The Richardson PD began working with GlobeRanger,
Richardson PD project.
which happens to be headquartered nearby, to automate the process. GlobeRanger is a longtime
With more than 6,000 tagged assets in the program,
leader in developing a variety of tracking systems that
Richardson Police Department is using several types
have been used by organizations around the world. It
of Xerafy tags, including:
provided its GR-AWARE-PD™ asset tracking system to
the
Richardson
PD
and
worked
with
•
the
measures only 0.24 x 0.1 inch (6 x 2.5 mm)
department to find the best RFID tags for uniform tracking and to get all uniform items tagged. Now
Dot-On XS, an IP 68-rated on-metal tag that that is used on cell phones;
•
Dash-On XS, a 0.48 x 0.12 x 0.09 inch (12.3 x
when new shirts, jackets or other items are issued,
3 x 2.2 mm) on-metal tag the Richardson PD
the officer presents his ID card, which is scanned
uses for tracking voice recorders;
along with the apparel item to associate it to the
•
specific officer. The system has greatly improved
assets. The compact tags are IP 68 rated and
record keeping accuracy while saving time, which led the department to explore other ways to take
Pico series tags are used on a variety of have different size options;
•
advantage of the technology.
NanoX II tags for larger assets where more space is available;
•
Titanium Metal Skin smart labels that are
There were challenges in expanding RFID tracking
only 0.22 inch wide and 0.03 inch thick, which
from garments to squad cars because it involved a
is small enough for use on handguns and
much greater variety of assets. Garments are
other items where low profile is essential.
relatively easy to identify with RFID and many tags have been developed specifically for that purpose. In
All tags come pre-encoded with a unique serial
contrast, the shotguns, computers, radios, radar guns
number. They are permanently attached to in-vehicle
and other equipment kept in cars is made from a
assets in a variety of ways. For example, tags are
larger range of materials and often includes metal,
permanently sealed inside the stocks of shotguns so
which can cause interference for general-purpose
they cannot be removed and do not affect the feel of
RFID tags. The heat inside unattended squad cars
the weapon. Citation printers and other assets can
routinely exceeds 120°F (49°C), which can also cause
have tags applied directly to the surface. Regardless
problems for RFID tags and the adhesives used to
of the asset or where the tag is located, the
attach them. GlobeRanger works with several RFID
Richardson PD is getting extremely accurate and
tag suppliers. Because of the demanding, read-on-
responsive RFID reads, enabling officers to complete
metal requirements, GlobeRanger selected Xerafy to
the inventory in just a few seconds.
Xerafy.com
Richardson Police Department Saves Time and Improves Access Control with RFID 2
There are typically between 10 and 16 patrol officers
dollars, and we want to use our resources as
deployed on each of the three daily shifts. By saving
efficiently as we can. RFID has proved to be very
approximately 15 minutes per shift per day, using
effective for that.”
RFID for asset inventory is saving the Richardson Police Department 7.5 to 12 hours a day – about the
“RFID technology is just fabulous. We know where
equivalent of a patrol shift. The system has worked so
every asset is,” says Spivey, who has hosted visitors
well in squad cars that the department now plans to
from several other police departments that are
expand it to its in-building assets.
interested in developing similar systems. “This is going to be the way police departments manage their
“Going around with clipboards and pens isn’t ideal,”
assets in the future.”
says Martin. “We are stewards of the taxpayers’
Xerafy.com
Richardson Police Department Saves Time and Improves Access Control with RFID 3
