Motorola Solutions upgrades WA Police app with car integration

Motorola Solutions has upgraded the Western Australia Police’s public safety mobile application with Apple CarPlay functionality, claiming it to be the “world’s first” public safety app with the capability.

Working jointly with the state police force, the added functionality extends the WA Police’s OneForce Core app — which is used by over 5,000 officers in the state — to allow officers to manage key operational workflows within police vehicles itself, rather than through the app on their phone.

“When public safety professionals require access to vital, life-saving information, it must be as intuitive and frictionless as possible,” said Mahesh Saptharishi, Motorola Solutions’ executive vice president and chief technology officer.

“By leveraging new interactions with familiar technology interfaces such as CarPlay, we remove complexity from the high-stress situations responders face and help them maintain focus on their mission. We are proud to introduce this new capability which forms an important part of WA Police’s digital policing strategy,” he said.

The OneForce Core app is based on the service provider’s PSCore public safety app and integrates critical operational information from multiple WA Police silos into one interface.

WA Police deputy commissioner Col Blanch said the app is particularly helpful when officers are out on emergency calls.

“When police officers respond to an incident, they need accurate and relevant information to inform their decisions and keep themselves and community members safe. Since deploying OneForce Core, our officers have been better informed with access to critical operational information wherever they are,” Blanch said.

“Now we’re taking the next step by extending the rich capabilities of OneForce Core into our police vehicles through the integration with CarPlay including voice controls.”

This is the latest upgrade Motorola Solutions has provided for a WA government agency. In 2015, the state police force invested $11 million to upgrade to the service provider’s PemierOne Computer Aided Dispatch System.

It then won a $7 million deal in 2017 to integrate the system with the WA government’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services.