We are very excited to announce the beginning of our new blog series on public safety. This series will include a number of posts that examine the intersection of technology and public safety as well as identify solutions to promote greater awareness and action.

Having worked in this field for over 15 years, I am especially enthusiastic about sharing my thoughts and starting a conversation on these issues. Before leading the Cisco's Connected Justice Solution and Public Safety Business Development team, I was a Chief of Police and dealt with all of the same issues that agencies are dealing with today.  Throughout my career, I have been passionate about improving the criminal justice system as well as government and public safety. And to this end, I have worked to streamline processes, lower costs, and increase efficiencies through the use of technology while making first responders safer.

As new technologies emerge, so do new possibilities. With the advent of mobility, the cloud, and security, we can harness modern tools to increase public safety.

Mobile devices and new mobility applications support a wide number of public sector priorities, which include citizen services and public safety. For instance, mobile devices allow first responders to use handheld tablets and phones to increase situational awareness. And cloud storage enables large amounts of electronic information to be hosted by third parties. Since public safety organizations no longer have to pay for physical space to host the servers, they can allocate more resources to training individuals and creating effective enforcement programs. Furthermore, new security solutions such as IP video surveillance and physical access controls ensure greater protection without increasing costs. These are just a few examples of the ways new technology can strengthen existing public safety mechanisms as well as introduce new capabilities for future programs.

Throughout this blog series, we will delve further into such technologies and assess their effects on public safety programs. We hope to offer examples from the field as case studies and best practices to share the benefits of employing these new tools.

Today, the threats to our safety are ever changing. And in order to be one step ahead of our adversaries and circumstances, we need to be smart, nimble, and creative. We need to be visionaries and look beyond what currently exists in our public safety system. By embracing new technological trends, we will equip those who work in public safety professions with the tools and skills they need to do their jobs.

We will be discussing all these topics in our upcoming live webcast on June 5 -our industry experts will cover everything you need to know to create a unified, interoperable public safety IT environment. Register Now

We invite you to share your thoughts and comments throughout this series.  I hope we can begin a meaningful conversation on an issue that affects us all. Be sure to check in for all our upcoming Friday blogs on the latest trends, challenges and technologies impacting public safety. Follow the hashtag#CiscoPublicSafety and @CiscoStateLocal and @CiscoGovt on Twitter for updates, and visit the Cisco Public Safety site for more information on solutions.