Mon, May 5, 2008

NexGen has software solution for local police

By Angela Carter, Register Staff

EAST HAVEN — A local software company is expanding its reach with products that help public safety departments share data that helps identify suspects and deter criminal activity.

Sal Annunziato, managing partner at NexGen Solutions LLC, said the company, which markets its products and services in Connecticut, recently signed an eight-year $7 million contract with the state police.

In addition to more than two dozen municipal police departments, Nexgen software is used by officers at the University of Connecticut’s main campus in Storrs and Central Connecticut State University.

Company products are also used by fire and emergency services agencies and organizations, as well as the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

In real time, Nexgen clients are able to share map information and suspect descriptions, and determine whether individuals are suspects in crimes in other towns. They also can determine patterns in how crimes, such as burglaries, may have been committed.

“Each agency determines what another agency can see,” said Annunziato, who runs the company with Lee Wezenski.

Also popular with law enforcement agencies are features that allow officers to write reports and conduct queries in the field using laptops, he said. “They don’t have to go back into the station to write a report,” he said.

Branford Police Chief John DeCarlo said policing in the United States is more “disjointed” than centralized systems such as Amsterdam’s. Crime statistics get reported to the federal government but the Nexgen products give police information they can use collectively and on the job.

“We kind of morph from individual departments into one, larger department,” DeCarlo said, adding that multiple departments use shared data to identify trends and know what’s happening in neighboring towns and counties.

“It’s the difference between a hand drill and a power drill,” DeCarlo said.

Under a new partnership with Guilford-based Pexagon Technology, Nexgen is introducing flash drives so that clients can have more flexibility in accessing or transporting data.

Angela Carter can be reached at 789-5752 or acarter@nhregister.com.