US Richardson Police Department equips RFID tags to monitor mobile devices

The police station permanently installs RFID tags on all Assets loaded on patrol vehicles. Officers on duty only need to use a handheld tag reader to scan the vehicle, and within seconds all asset information is uploaded to the entire network system. This RFID solution will automatically read the tag information installed on the asset when the reader is close to the patrol car. This information includes the asset serial number and return date. RFID can track the use and maintenance of assets in real time, and the police department will have real-time access to the location information and usage of each asset. More importantly, once the system detects that any asset is lost or stolen, it will proactively alert managers and locate the asset.

       Capt. Richardson Police Department said: "Sometimes we think assets are lost, but in fact they are just misplaced somewhere. This happens all the time, someone uses it and doesn't put it back, and the next person to use it has to find it. No more. It would be a waste of time to ask people who have used it before. With RFID, we only need to check the network system to know the last usage information of this asset, which is accurate. The benefits this technology brings to us Too much."

       Nowadays, many criminals pretend to be police officers and commit crimes. Therefore, the entire police department has expanded the application of RFID to the fields of tracking police cars and managing police uniforms, effectively preventing theft of police assets and improving police accountability.

        "The emergence of new technologies has ended the old era, this is a rule." Martin said, "Manual text records are always unable to synchronize with reality. In the past, we would regularly manually inventory all uniforms, which was a big project."

       Coincidentally, its headquarters is located near the Richardson Police Department. This company specializes in multi-field RFID tracking systems and already has many corporate and organizational customers around the world. The RFID asset tracking management software system it developed is suitable for police stations to manage mobile assets and police uniform tracking. Whether it’s a shirt, jacket or work ID, a range of related assets. This solution not only saves time in asset inspection, but also improves the accuracy of inventory inspection, allowing police officers to have more time to arrange other work.

       The challenge in the implementation process of this application case lies in the diversification of asset types. Clothing categories are more likely to be tagged, and there are already very mature applications in the industry. But assets such as guns, computers, communications equipment and radars come in different shapes, sizes and materials, and are rich in metals, making ordinary RFID tags impossible to use. Outdoors, the temperature inside the patrol car will be as high as 49 degrees Celsius, requiring RFID tags with high temperature resistance. Tags from many manufacturers were selected for testing, and RFID products were finally selected as the hardware for this solution.

        The Police Department has installed RFID tags on approximately 6,000 assets, including:

• An RFID metal tag measuring only 6 x 2.5 mm, with IP68 performance and can be installed on a mobile phone;

• RFID metal tags with dimensions 12.3 x 3 x 2.2 mm for portable recording equipment;

• Pico series tags are suitable for many types of assets and also meet IP68, the best performance-to-size ratio;

• RFID X-II tags are suitable for slightly larger assets and have longer read ranges;

• Titanium RFID is only 0.86mm thick, and its pocket size is perfect for small assets such as pistols.

       All tags will be numbered before leaving the factory. Each tag has a unique serial number. When they are installed on the asset, this unique serial number becomes the unique serial number of the asset. The tags can also be installed in a variety of ways. For example, the tags can be permanently embedded in the pistol to prevent malicious removal. For assets such as portable printers, labels can be directly attached to the surface of the asset through adhesive. No matter where the asset is located, the police department has access to exactly the asset information Stored on the tag, allowing inventory checks to be completed in just seconds.

       The police station patrols three times a day, using approximately 10-16 patrol cars each time. The RFID system helps the police save nearly 12 hours of asset inventory time every day. Patrol hours can now be extended, improving the quality of the police force's work.

       "The efficiency of handwritten records is really inefficient. We hope to maximize work efficiency and make the best use of taxpayers' money. RFID has achieved our requirements." Martin is very satisfied with the results achieved by RFID.

        Chief Jimmy Spivey of the Police Department said: "RFID technology is amazing. With it, we can know where our assets are at any time. I believe that the entire Police Department will use this technology to manage assets in the near future."