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The Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) needed to enhance its communications and reduce downtime caused by printers that needed servicing and lacked le sharing capabilities. Sharp provided successful solutions, including Drivve | ImageTM and the AQUOS BOARD® interactive display system, and provided excellent customer support to help keep the streets safer.

Business Environment Challenges

Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 9.24.59 AMWith the continued growth in the popularity of Miami Beach as a destination of choice for out-of-town and local visitors alike, the 400-officer MBPD has a significant task: to balance the needs of the residential population with the huge increase in the amount of visitors to the City of Miami Beach.

In a public safety environment where speed and e iciency is vital, the MBPD realized that its printing equipment needed an overhaul. Getting in contact with the customer service department of previous document systems vendors was o en a challenge. Machines would be down for weeks before parts arrived. In addition, printing a document away from the desk was a major inconvenience.

“If you had a meeting at city hall, the fire department or even somewhere within the police station, and all of the sudden you needed to print something, you had to have someone back at your area email the document to somebody in your current location,” said Officer Vince Tuzeo, Technology Coordinator for the MBPD. Communications was another issue the MBPD faced. Its training room used a projector, which required dim lighting for people to see the screen.

PaperCut MF for Sharp Printing Devices

“Some meeting participants had di iculty seeing the presentation depending on where they sat, not to mention di iculty taking notes in the dark,” explained William Collado, Police Officer in the Firearms Training Unit. “The projector was run by a laptop on a cart in the middle of the room with cords dangerously scattered around the floor.”

In addition, the MBPD’s command vehicle needed enhanced equipment such as computers and printers so its occupants wouldn’t have to keep returning to the police station to perform simple tasks. In case of the , a hostage situation or other serious crimes and incidents, the department needed a more streamlined approach to communication.

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Business Technology Solutions

Sharp was first consulted about the printer issue and it installed 24 Sharp multifunctional printers (MFPs) around the MBPD (MX-3140N in the command unit plus MX-M264N, MX-M314N, MX-M453N, MX-M503N and MX-3110N document systems throughout the department). The Sharp OSA®-enabled MFPs include a connection to Drivve | Image, allowing the employees to scan and index right at the LCD panel of the MFP.

In addition, Sharp OSA technology enabled Drivve so ware, paired with authentication so ware, to develop a single sign-on and authentication component between the existing cost recovery solution and Drivve | Image. The Drivve | Image central server uses sign-in credentials to automatically create di erent scan destinations to a user’s home directory or department folder. Items can be scanned directly into department drive folders, which are managed by the City of Miami Beach IT Department. This way, files can be accessed wherever police officers and sta members go.

“The current Sharp systems that are in place are absolutely phenomenal,” said Vince. “It allows us to do whatever we need to as far as printing, copying and scanning. Now that our machines are networked, even if one ever went down, there are other machines that the file can be sent to and printed.”

Sharp Cloud Connect Capabilities

There is even a full-color MFP in the mobile command vehicle, which is highly compatible with a 60″ Class (60.1″ diagonal) Sharp AQUOS BOARD interactive display system for the ultimate in crime fighting technology. Vehicle occupants can view images or presentations sent instantaneously from police headquarters or anywhere else on the screen. They can also use the display to view maps from the Internet and direct fellow officers where to go.

Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 9.24.42 AM“With the Sharp systems in place, we are now able to manage a scene or an event out in the field as if we were back in the station,” says Lieutenant David Hernandez of the MBPD’s Investigations and Support Division. “Let’s say we’re looking for a missing child. A er the parent supplies a photo, we can scan it in and print out copies to hand out to our officers right from the command vehicle or at any other printer in our station. Or, we can send it to the officers as an email attachment right to their phones.” In addition, the AQUOS BOARD® interactive display allows officers to manipulate the images. For example, they can write notes on the image and circle clues, then save and send out the edited version.

The MBPD also has two 80″ Class (80″ diagonal) Sharp AQUOS BOARD interactive displays. One is used in the training room and another in a commander’s office. With the display in the training room, lights now remain on so people can read their notes more easily. In addition, a Sharp 60″ Class (60.1″ diagonal) professional display is mounted on the right wall toward the back of the room so people seated in that area don’t have to strain their eyes to see the main board.

Innovative Results

In total, the MBPD now uses 30 Sharp MFPs and displays, and is budgeted to purchase another AQUOS BOARD interactive display for the chief’s office in 2016. The police officers are enjoying the interactive display in the training room. Although they’d prefer to be out in the street rather than in a meeting room, the modern technology helps keep their attention.

Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 9.24.51 AMThe training room is used for the quarterly, mandatory in-service training, including use-of-force updates, legal updates and other subjects. Half of the training is in the classroom and the other half is hands-on. The MBPD recently completed an active shooter threat scenario with help from the AQUOS BOARD interactive display. The room is also used for training citizens including a monthly women’s self-defense class and a weekly citizens’ police academy.

The MBPD is extremely satisfied with Sharp’s products and Sharp’s service according to Vince. “Customer service is incredible. That alone is worth every penny we pay for. If we need service, somebody usually comes out the next day unless it’s a holiday. They provide us with plenty of toner, cartridges, parts or other items to have on standby at the location. And if we’re looking to do something new, we can contact our reps. They would come out and meet with us, walk through the department and design it for us. They would put it all together and email us quotes, design plans or whatever we needed so we could get things going.”

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