Remote fleet management for police cruisers

We describe two prototype remote fleet management software modules for police cruisers. One of the modules is used for automatic vehicle location (AVL) the other is used for cruiser status monitoring. The software modules leverage the existing Project54 infrastructure that integrates electronic devices in cruisers and connects cruisers to each other and to headquarters. This infrastructure allows client-server connections over 802.11 wireless networks as well as over police radio networks. The AVL module transmits GPS information to headquarters over the radio network. In order not to overwhelm the radio network, heuristic rules are used to decide when to transmit data and when to discard it. The AVL module was successfully tested in the field. The status monitoring module is designed to use the on-board diagnostics II (OBD II) standard to connect to the vehicle's internal bus. The prototype was successfully tested in laboratory conditions with simulated OBD II data.