Points of Interest
For Communications Computer-Aided Dispatch
Outline
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Communication’s Location Database
POI Database
How POI are used for Incident Response
POI maintenance
Transforming & Creating POI for CAD
Data Verification
Incident Reporting
Summary
Communication’s Location Database
The location databases used by Communication’s
Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system are
essential to the incident response management.
They are the reference for:
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Incident location
Determining jurisdiction
Previous incident information
Checks for duplicate calls
Unit recommendations
Warnings, messages and flags
Reporting – e.g. for resources management
Points of Interest
 POI are essential since a large percentage of calls
for service relate to a location name or
description rather than street address
• Sourced from government departments
– Geonoma, service stations, mines, educational institutions, licensed
premises, shopping centres, banks, some fast food franchises, hospitals,
clinics, fire stations, bus, train, ferry, aboriginal communities, police stations,
consulates, jetties, bridges
• Created by Communications
– Water locations, gun shops, video shops, fast food, critical infrastructure,
post offices, chemists, user requests
– Locations well known locally to police but not of interest to general public
e.g. may be a particular medium strip, tree or section of park
• Currently about 32 000 POI maintained by
Communications
How POI are Used for Incident Response
• Call received through 000 or 131444 and call
agent creates job on CAD
– any intelligence associated to the location is linked at this point
How POI are Used for Incident Response
• Incident appears on dispatcher console
– The dispatcher allocates a unit recommended by CAD or to a
police station or incident management unit
– When the unit is allocated, the dispatcher relays any intelligence
associated with the location to the responders, e.g.
• Persons at Risk, Persons of Interest, Dangerous Goods\Critical
Infrastructure, Key Holder Information, Special Operations
• The intelligence associated with the location may increase the priority of
the job
How POI are Used for Incident Response
The job appears on the TADIS\Mobile device of the
tasked unit. If location is unknown, the POI can
be quickly located on the TADIS map using a
Common Place search.
How POI are Used for Incident Response
• Where available, preplan information is linked to
locations e.g. floor plans, emergency plans,
StreetSmart enlargements
• Available on both desktop and in-vehicle
Maintaining POI
• Preparing to meet CAD specification
• Managing currency, accuracy, geocoding
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Old addresses e.g. lot changed to street address
Overlaps and mismatches between data sources
Managing update cycles
Mismatch between POI addresses and PSA
• Setting naming conventions and abbreviation standards
• Defining classification, symbolisation
Transforming & Creating POI for CAD
User
Requests
E-mail
Service Desk
Telephone
Web App
Incident Analysis
Text
Licensed Premises
Business Names
Spatial
Police Stations
Health
Fire Stations
Petrol Stations
Web based feedback system
developed but generated low
interest from custodians
so not pursued
further
Incremental Update
Geocode non-spatial
Merge
Value
Add
Clean &Reformat
Verification
ArcSDE\ArcObjects\
VB.Net\SQL Server
CAD
Common
Place DB
Data Verification
• Most resource intensive of processes
• Performed both programmatically and manually (with the
aid of tools developed for ArcMap\ArcEditor)
• A variety of information sources and data layers may be
utilised, e.g.
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Ortho photos, cadastre, RCL, PSA, StreetSmart
AVS
Internet, white pages, yellow pages
Local knowledge of officers
• Typical anomalies: spelling incorrect on street names,
incorrect street types, wrong suburb, wrong street number,
physical location incorrect, unfriendly formats
Incident Reporting
• A good POI database assists accurate reporting
E.g. can answer questions like:
“how many priority 1-4 incidents occurred at this common place in
the last 3 months?”
• Assists in mapping results
– E.g. determining location hot-dots
Summary
• POI high value for incidence response
– used for quick search, linking intelligence and reporting
• Sourced from various outside agencies and
created in-house
• A lot of manipulation required to meet CAD
specifications and standards
• Maintenance is resource intensive
• In-house development required to handle volume