Pioneer - Product Information

Emedia Professional, Nov, 1999

CD jukebox helps police department book 'em

in March 1998, Charles Kirby, Chief of the Romulus, Michigan Police Department, authorized the purchase of a long-term, mass storage solution to improve department efficiency. Based on Pioneer's 100-disc CD jukebox, the system included document imaging, indexing, and storage capabilities.

"The department was buried in paper documents. Something had to be done," said Kirby. "With our new system, time wasted filing, copying, searching, retrieving, refiling and maintaining orderly files is being put to more productive use."

Pioneer's DRM-1004X40 is key to the overall system. It can store up to 65GB of data with quick, reliable performance in demanding network environments. Now, documents are scanned into a computer and temporarily stored on a hard drive. From there, the images are written to CDs and stored in the jukebox, making them available from any computer on the network.

To a typical information systems manager, finding a long-term storage solution might not pose that much of a challenge. But to a veteran cop, this was a major undertaking. Kirby assigned Executive Lieutenant Bob Brown to the task. While the department did have several computers at their use, they were in five different locations throughout the building. Computer networks and storage systems were not something Lt. Brown was familiar with. He set out to find a solution that both the department and the public would be happy with. After all, public funds would be used for the purchase, and the eventual solution would have to last over a long period of time.

Lt. Brown sat through multiple vendor presentations ranging from microfilm to document imaging--none of which presented a solution for law enforcement. Finally, Chuck Baffo and his company, G.A. Computers, arrived on the scene. The solution he presented wasn't based on banks, personnel management or companies like the others had been--it was customized to fit the specific needs of the Romulus Police Department.

"We scan anywhere from 300 to 500 documents per day. Over the last year, the overwhelming amount of processing has become much more manageable," said Chief Kirby. "The system has been very effective in streamlining document processing, and we estimate that it will address our document storage needs for the next

seven to 10 years--something that I'm sure the public is very happy about."

"In this business, we have enough worries," said Chief Kirby. "It's a comfort to know that reliable and effective hardware is not one of them."

The department will soon expand the use of Pioneer's jukebox, using it for storing mugshots and fingerprints. Officers will be able to access this information using laptops while patrolling the streets.

For more information, contact Pioneer New Media Technologies Inc. at 310/952-2111 or visit the company's Web site at http://www.pioneerusa.com.