273 Branchport Avenue
Long Branch, NJ 07740
Phone: (800) 631-2148
Fax: (732) 222-8707
www.coopernotification.com
Contact:
Marla Moran
(941) 487-2318
marla.moran@cooperindustries.com
New Crime-Fighting Tool
Delivers Real-Time Crime Information to Help Deter Crime and Catch Criminals
U.S. crime rates have dropped significantly in the last decade, according to the FBI’s Uniform
Crime Report figures. However, in some of the nation’s largest cities, crime continues to be a
major problem, more than twice or in some cases up to four times the national crime rate
figures.
Since crime is a social problem and a concern of the entire community, how do you get your
community involved to help reduce crime? Several states like Wisconsin and local law
enforcement agencies such as The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. are
turning to products, like Cooper Notification’s Roam Secure Alert Network for Crime Alerting
Systems, to communicate to businesses about crimes committed in their neighborhood. This
new crime-fighting tool is important for a couple of reasons. Not only does it build trust between
the community and law enforcement, it also immediately puts thousands of additional eyes and
ears on the streets looking for suspects.
When a crime is reported in a specific area, the alerting system enables law enforcement
officers to send real-time information via email, text message, fax, pager and voice call to
registered users. The system then alerts them that a crime has been committed and provides
them with a description of the alleged perpetrator. The type of crime alerts businesses can
receive include information about robberies, assaults, shoplifting, missing persons, auto theft
and violent crimes.
In December of 2011, the Wisconsin Department of Justice launched the Wisconsin Crime Alert
Network (WCAN), which partners local law enforcement with residents and business to keep the
public informed, solve and prevent crimes and help find missing people. As a new public safety
initiative implemented by the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the WCAN enables
hundreds of trained officers to send alerts via email, text or fax to subscribers. Alerts can be
sent quickly based on location or can be targeted to groups from more than 50 categories, such
as pharmacies or convenience stores. Officers can choose to issue those alerts to specific,
affected groups across the county, a multi-county region or statewide. To sign up for alerts, visit
http://www.wisconsincrimealert.gov/.
According to the Wisconsin DCI, within weeks of becoming operational, dozens of alerts were
issued by member law enforcement agencies, including important information about thefts,
missing people, counterfeit money and home invasions. In a recent theft case at a Chippewa
Falls hospital, an alert went out with surveillance photos of the suspects and within a half-hour,
local police were receiving tips about the identity of the main suspect who was later arrested.
WCAN also allows police departments from different jurisdictions to share information. For
example according to the Wisconsin Dells Event article, “New alerts foil burglars here,” the Lake
Delton Police department used the system before it went public to identify two suspects in a
burglary by sending images of the suspects from a surveillance video through WCAN to various
police officers. Wisconsin Dells police officers identified the suspects, which led to their arrests.
“Time is critical in any criminal investigation, and with this new system we're giving local law
enforcement another resource to protect their communities by sharing appropriate information
with local businesses and residents, all of whom have a stake in building a better, safer
community for their families,” Attorney General Van Hollen said. “By informing private citizens
about criminal activity, law enforcement increases its eyes and ears, helping investigators catch
suspects or find missing children as quickly as possible.”
In 2008, the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency
(HSEMA) and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) launched DC Police Alert
(https://textalert.ema.dc.gov), and according to Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, it is part of a
collaborative effort to proactively engage the community by giving them real time information
about what is happening in their neighborhoods.
DC Police Alert is part of their citizen warning system, Alert DC, which was launched in 2002 to
communicate real-time emergency information to first responders and the public. The crime text
alerting system was initially part of a pilot program that was launched in September of 2007 as a
joint venture between HSEMA, MPD, the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID),
the Gateway Main Street program and the Georgetown Business Improvement District.
“When a local business was robbed and police were only able to canvass surrounding
businesses three days after the event, a group of us, including local leaders and business
owners, decided we needed to develop a method to help stop crime,” said Nick Wasylczuk,
owner of Just Paper & Tea. “Now the process takes minutes, not days. It provides us with the
opportunity to protect our business and keep our eyes open for any information that can be
passed along to police.”
About Cooper Notification
Cooper Notification, a solution platform of The Cooper Safety Division, is comprised of several
businesses with decades of experience and innovation in the development of high quality
products and solutions. With the ever present need to protect, alert and inform, Cooper
Notification is focused on meeting the growing demand for personnel and property safety. We
are the source for notification solutions supporting Fire, Security, Hazardous area, Mass
Notification, Voice evacuation and Industrial Signaling applications and operating under the
powerful global brands of Fulleon, MEDC, Roam Secure, SAFEPATH, WAVES and Wheelock.
For more information, visit the web site at www.coopernotification.com.
About Cooper Industries
Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE) is a global electrical products manufacturer with 2011 revenues of
$5.4 billion. Founded in 1833 Cooper's sustained success is attributable to a constant focus on
innovation and evolving business practices, while maintaining the highest ethical standards and
meeting customer needs. The Company has seven operating divisions with leading market positions
and world-class products and brands, including Bussmann electrical and electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds
and CEAG explosion-proof electrical equipment; Halo and Metalux lighting fixtures; and Kyle and
McGraw-Edison power systems products. With this broad range of products, Cooper is uniquely
positioned for several long-term growth trends including the global infrastructure build-out, the need
to improve the reliability and productivity of the electric grid, the demand for higher energy-efficient
products and the need for improved electrical safety. In 2011 sixty-two percent of total sales were to
customers in the industrial and utility end-markets and forty percent of total sales were to customers
outside the United States. Cooper has manufacturing facilities in 23 countries as of 2011. For more
information, visit the website at www.cooperindustries.com.
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