The Wayne State University Police have completed the transfer of Computer Assisted Dispatch (CAD) operations from an existing Wayne State Police computer to Detroit’s new CAD System. The Detroit CAD, which began operation in late 2005, is used cooperatively by Detroit’s Police, Fire, and EMS agencies.

Detroit’s CAD provides “9-1-1” Call Input and a process for CAD/Radio operators to manage the dispatch of units to incidents. The system, a software product of CompuDyne Corporation, records information and provides real-time status of the response to each incident.

Wayne State’s police patrol approximately four-square-miles of midtown Detroit, in both campus and nearby non-campus areas, as they respond to “9-1-1” calls, enforce traffic, and otherwise exercise their state and Detroit police powers consistent with their law enforcement responsibilities. During the more than forty years the department has existed, the Wayne State Police have developed a close working relationship of mutual assistance and cooperation with Detroit’s Police, Fire and EMS agencies.

In light of this relationship, and the need to coordinate activities and maximize the efficiency of its operations, the WSU Police requested and received permission to join Detroit’s new system. Wayne State then contracted with CompuDyne. Funds for computer hardware were also provided by the university.

The Wayne State Police CAD workstations are staffed by highly trained civilians. Telephone calls directed to the WSU Police emergency phone number, 313-577-2222, as well as calls generated by patrol units, are entered into the new CAD system. In addition, the new CAD workstations automatically receive calls entered by Detroit’s “9-1-1” Call Takers that involve specific university or near-university locations.

Another benefit of the cooperative arrangement is the ability of WSU Police dispatch personnel to visually monitor and coordinate with other emergency services in the university area. Detroit dispatchers are also able to monitor Wayne State Police activity.

Additionally, because of their close working relationship with the Detroit Police Department, it recently became necessary for the WSU Police to convert to an 800Mhz radio system. This conversion project was completed through a unique connection to Detroit’s 800 MHz radio system, allowing WSU Police to participate in the Michigan Public Safety Communications System.

Although the WSU Police Headquarters facility utilizes only three dispatch consoles, they duplicate the equipment and functions of Detroit’s consoles. This allows the remote WSU police dispatch center to operate, as closely as possible, in parallel. Parallel operations maximize effectiveness, and allow the WSU Police facility to potentially function as an alternate Detroit CAD/Radio dispatch location.

Wayne State University is grateful to the City of Detroit, Department of Police, and Detroit’s Information Technology Department for their assistance in this project.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.