Western States Information Network

Provides criminal intelligence information and case and event operations data to law enforcement investigations being conducted in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.

Case Study

At-a-glance situational awareness.

Hiperwall improves safety for law enforcement officers by enabling the Western States Information Network (WSIN) analysts to see critical data across all regions in one view.

Background

Established in 1981 by the U.S. Congress, the Western States Information Network (WSIN) supports the information sharing needs required by law enforcement and criminal justice operations at the local, state and federal levels for five Western states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

To avoid conflicts, all operations, surveillance, warrant service and training missions are reported, recorded in a database developed by the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) program and posted on an interactive map at WSIN. The de-confliction software in the 24/7 watch center promptly detects if officers from any other agency are in proximity.
WSIN is a part of RISS, which has served the nation for 30 years and is composed of six regional centers, operating in unique multistate geographic regions, and offers services to local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to enhance their ability to identify, target and remove criminal conspiracies and activities spanning multijurisdictional, multistate and, sometimes, international boundaries. RISS supports investigation and prosecution efforts against terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, identity theft, cybercrime, organized criminal activity, criminal gangs, violent crime and other regional priorities, while promoting officer safety. RISS provides information sharing services, investigative analysis support, equipment sharing, investigative funds support, training and technical assistance to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies that are members of RISS.

Every day, WSIN provides supportive services that are critical for United States law enforcement and criminal justice operations nationwide. WSIN ensures that collaborating law enforcement agencies do not conflict with each other’s operations

 

Details

Challenge

Critical to WSIN’s mission is facilitating the timely exchange of intelligence as well as monitoring operations to minimize the risk of “friendly fire” incidents or other unintended interference. To prevent accidental but potentially dangerous conflicts, a customized “de-confliction” software was installed at the WSIN watch center in 2008. Monitored 24/7 by a staff of analysts, all operations, surveillance, warrant service and training missions are reported and the software promptly detects if officers from any other agency are in the proximity. In the software’s first year alone, 101,565 incidents were reported with 80,222 officers notified that their operations were in conflict.

However, because each analyst was restricted to their own desktop PC that was only able to monitor their own region, WSIN began looking for a large display system solution, or “video wall,” that would enable the simultaneous viewing of all regions in the United States, along with any critical areas, news feeds and other sources of information.

Solution

After discovering that traditional hardware-based video wall systems were priced well beyond the agency’s budget, WSIN turned to international monitor leader Samsung Electronics in search of a more affordable solution. Samsung introduced WSIN to business partner Hiperwall, an Irvine, California-based firm. WSIN anticipated an investment of $140,000 to implement a video wall, but Hiperwall offered a solution at a much lower cost. Hiperwall is a software-based, hardware-agnostic solution that requires only ordinary PCs, monitors and a standard Ethernet network, making the technology more affordable than previous video wall technology.

While the Hiperwall system can display still images up to 1GB resolution or larger, HD videos and HD streaming content, WSIN officials were most interested in its ability to display PC applications, live video and TV on a bank of monitors composing an ultra-high resolution LED video wall. The system would enable WSIN to have multiple feeds displayed on the wall simultaneously with the ability to reposition and resize each feed as easily as moving and resizing windows on a PC desktop. Any feed could also be scaled up for viewing on several monitors or the entire wall instantly, at the user’s discretion.

Glenn Gatbonton, assistant director at WSIN, visited Hiperwall’s headquarters to view a live demonstration of the system. Gatbonton instantly realized that the system met WSIN’s needs and a purchase order was signed a week later.

Challenge

WSIN analysts were restricted to viewing critical information on desktop PCs that only monitored their own regions. WSIN needed a video wall solution that would enable the simultaneous viewing of all regions to provide comprehensive monitoring capabilities.

Solution

WSIN selected Hiperwall as the centerpiece of the agency’s de-confliction center because of its ability to display information simultaneously from many sources.

Results

WSIN receives the following benefits from the agency’s Hiperwall solution:

  • Instant, at-a-glance viewing of data provided by de-confliction software, which helps to prevent conflicting operations and friendly fire incidents.
  • Comprehensive, collaborative monitoring of all regions through one, “big picture” view.
  • Enhanced confidence from law enforcement officers that they are receiving greater protection.

 

 

“The Hiperwall system was very easy to configure and our analysts are now able to view our de-confliction software, CNN news feeds, surveillance, maps, events tables, and conflict tables all at once in real time due to Hiperwall’s multi-source streaming flexibility. This gives anybody who comes in the watch center everything they need to see to know what is going on in the territory—on one screen. Most importantly, our analysts can now make better informed decisions.”

Karen Aumond, Director of the Department of Justice at WSIN

WSIN’s Hiperwall-based video wall system enables analysts to see and share critical information with colleagues instantaneously.

WSIN Watch Center Hiperwall

 

 

WISN diagram

 

Hiperwall, Inc. is a leading company in video wall software and distributed visualization technology.

Contact Information

1.888.520.1760

info@hiperwall.com

557 Wald
Irvine, CA 92618

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