2013-Spring-Vancouver Police Department

I. INTRODUCTION

I have been teaching Software Engineering class in university since 2009. This class is attracting attention of both academic and industry partners. The following video showcase the term project in Spring 2013. The term projects were sponsored by Sergeant Kevin Bernardin, Community Policing Services Unit, Vancouver Police Department.

You can also contact me if you have any question. Contact Herbert.

II. VIDEOS

Here are the project videos:

Group	Name	Description	Link to the videos
1	Miscreants Lament- Vancouver Police Department Community Policing	The iPhone app will focus on streamlining the collection, storage, distribution and analysis of traffic speed monitoring (Speed Watch) data. Automation and simplification will be maximized by incorporating built-in device features such as global positioning system (GPS) based location services into an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Specifically, the application will have two main functions. The first will allow volunteers to count vehicles and collect relevant data such as speed and vehicle type. Additionally, volunteers will have the option to log perceived infractions they may observe such as reckless driving, cell phone use, not wearing seat belt, etc. The second main function is to upload the data to a web server where it will be available for review and analysis. The application will be designed for community volunteers, age 19 -75, who have a basic familiarity with the use of mobile devices.
2	VPD iPatrol	Our application is called VPD iPatrol. The application is for the Community Police of Vancouver. The application will allow community police to track their patrols using a map and report any neighborhood crime while patrolling. The application can then be synched and viewed on the website to track progress and see any patterns for crime. The application will have a simple user interface that can be used by community police of any age. This application will be great for community police because it will allow them to be more organized in patrols and keep track of their reports in a systematic manner. With more organization, community police can possibly get more funding from the government. The application will run on iOS platform.
3	Smart Report application	Smart Report application is an iOs app that reports crimes including license plate theft, noise, and graffiti problems under emergency or non-emergency settings. The application collects information including the reporter’s name, location, and crime detail, and takes input by text, photo, GPS location, and voice. In emergency situation, user can choose one of three buttons for police, fire, or ambulance. Once a button is pressed, the application will send the location and user’s name to a 911 dispatcher. Pressing a button works especially well for people with speech or hearing impediments. Smart Report will be an easy, fast, and convenient way to report a crime to the police, and helps police to take effective action to stop crime.
4	SafeSpeed	SafeSpeed is an iPhone/iPod touch application made to assist volunteers from Community Policing Centers (CPC) with the collection of Speed Watch data for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and other institutions, such as the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). The SafeSpeed App will allow volunteers to create user profiles and collect data during the Speed Watch volunteering shifts. It will let users tally and record the number of cars driving within each speed range, type of vehicle (commercial, motorcycle, etc.), any other observed behaviour (example: no seatbelt) and have the possibility of recording license plate numbers. Once synced to our server, the App will then automatically store speed watch data, which can be used for generating a reports, analyzing all of the given data using numbers, graphs and maps. This data will bethen viewed on a Web Based Application which will give users the chance to generate different reports.
5	Block Watchers: “Gain rewards while keeping your street safe!	Block Watchers is an application for a person16 years or older, especially thoselooking to be active in their neighbourhood and reduce the chance of residential crimes. It will be developed on the iOS platform for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.Having this application installed on these devices will motivate users to track, investigate, and report suspicious behaviour in their neighbourhood. This application will allow users to track their patrolled route, view suggested unpatrolled areas to secure the whole neighbourhood, input license plate numbers of suspicious cars on the block to ensure that they are not stolen, and view information to report crimes such as graffiti, drug houses, and property theft. Each of these actions will also give the user “progress points” towards badges that they can show to their friends. The end result Is a competitive and motivating system for volunteers already watching over their neighbourhood and new potential volunteers
6	Peaceful Neighbourhood	The proposed Peaceful Neighbourhood iOS App will be designed to help the community take charge and keep their streets and homes safe. This patrol app allows you to report any disturbances to the police with the option of being anonymous. The features include a map display that shows and can record where you are, typing in the disturbance, taking pictures, displaying the frequency of a place where you visited, and determine the hot spots. All of this information can be sent to the Vancouver Police Department. This user-friendly yet effective app is ideal for anyone ages 12+ who knows basic level English.
7	Block Patrol	Block Patrol, “making your community safer one step at a time” is an engaging, easy and effective application developed to help residents of Vancouver in organizing with their Block Watch teams to effectively prevent and combat crime within their communities. Block Patrol allows neighborhoods to connect together by reporting suspicious activities, logging patrols, and viewing areas covered by patrols on a map. After a Block Watch captain has registered a Block Watch group, simply download the Block Patrol application to your iPhone or iPod Touch and connect with your team. Logged activity will be shared amongst members of your Block Watch team and the local Community Policing office in order to raise awareness and help users make their community a safer place to live in.	TBD
8	PatrolBuddy	PatrolBuddy is an iOS application developed for iOS devices with Global Positioning System (GPS), internet capability and camera functions. The application focuses mainly on streamlining the current patrolling system at the Community Policing Centre (CPC), which will be achieved primarily through automating patrol logging and improves accuracy of patrol logs and also improves quality of disorderly reports generated. Some of the key features include: login system for users and administrator, a patrol mode automatically logs the patrol’s detail, a disorderly reporting mode to archive all data to an online database, display problematic areas on the map so that patrollers can focus on them. Additionally, an accompanied website is provided for data management and summary of report generating.
9	// Bike Registry//	The Bike Registry app (slogan: “Save your spokes!”) is an iOS app that stores and tracks bicycle ownership. Users create an account with the app, and then store information about their bikes in an online database. The app’s database checks the Canadian Police Information Centre’s database to see if any bikes have been stolen, and alerts the user if their bike has been found. It also allows users to report their bikes as lost, stolen, or destroyed. Bicycle history is available to authorised users of the app. The app targets bicylcists, police, community watch members and bicycle shops.
10	VigilantEye	This app focuses on Disorderly Reporting. The app helps users gather information which will then be submitted to a server. The data will then be organized in a manner that would help the officers deploy police patrols efficiently. We will be using maps to represent and organize the data alongside individual submission search; users will have the ability to filter by location and infraction type. The application will allow picture upload, GPS information, and a description for the report which will be submitted to the server. This app will be mainly designed for volunteers, however, everyone who has an iPhone, iPod Touch, or, iPad will be able to use it. The website will also feature a mobile interface which can be used from any mobile device.
11	VPD CrimeTracker	VPD CrimeTracker is an application for reporting community disorder. The application will be based on the IOS system used on the iPhone. It will provide different kinds of disorder reports in categories such as Graffiti, Suspected Drug House, and Suspected Stolen Vehicle. Users will be able to attach photos, write a textual description, and provide their location via GPS or manual input for a disorderly report. If a user composes a report and does not have an internet connection, or does not wish to send it, there will be an option to save the report as a draft until they decide to send it. This application can be used by the public, and by patrol volunteers working with community policing organizations. The simplicity of this application means that it will be accessible to a wide variety of community members
13	PeaceGuard	Effective community policing relies on having watchful eyes and ears out in the neighborhood. PeaceGuard is an iPhone application designed to complement the Vancouver Police Department’s community policing efforts by encouraging civilian volunteers to turn their evening walks into a valuable community service. PeaceGuard accomplishes this by employing gamification techniques. Gamification is “the process of game-thinking and game mechanics to engage users,” and when applied correctly, can “produce unprecedented behavior change” [1]. Indeed, “any metric has the power to become a type of score” [1], and PeaceGuard transforms mundane patrolling statistics into a competitive scoring and achievement system: volunteers will be able to keep track of their own patrols, compare themselves with other volunteers, and share their achievements on Facebook. PeaceGuard: You’re not just walking. You’re patrolling.
14	CPC SpeedWatch	CPC SpeedWatch- Help enforce speed limits by Speed watch programs CPC SpeedWatch is an iPhone (iOS) app for community police supervisors and volunteers, typically aged between 19 and 75 years participating in speed watch programs.CPC SpeedWatch would help volunteers with a better storage and analysis of their speed watch sessions and help supervisors with a better tracking and assessment tool. Instead of using a pen and a paper to store and analyse the captured data, volunteers can use CPC SpeedWatch to enter traffic information, record the duration of their activity, provide their location via the built-in GPS and submit their results through email or web services interactions. Police supervisors can retrieve the statistical analysis and other traffic information either in their emails or via a web browser where they can visualize the results and act appropriately to traffic disorder.
15	Community Police Assistant	Community Police Assistant (CPA) is an application designed for reporting accidents and disorder events. It is user-friendly features allow users to report things like graffiti, missing people, wanted criminals and emergency accidents in a fast, convenient and secure way. Locations will be attached automatically to the report (if GPS is turned on), data will be transferred and saved into a standard format (EXCEL) and the report will be sent directly to Vancouver Community Police Centers by a simple click after all the data are collected. The application not only helps people report faster, but also makes information collecting and analyzing more efficient compared to reporting on paper or even phone calls in some situations. This application is mainly designed for the community police and volunteering patrol, but it also can be used by public as well. Since network, camera and GPS are required by the application, iPhone, iPad and iTouch will be used as the main platforms and Objective-C will be the programming language used to create this application.
16	PlateCheck	PlateCheck is an application for verifying the identification numbers of bicycles and vehicles. Our goal is to make PlateCheck as streamlined as possible so the user can operate the application easily while driving a car or on foot. To accomplish these goals PlateCheck will feature data input using voice recognition, features for displaying identification numbers on a map and a interface for committing data to an email address. The application is targeted towards VPD officers and volunteer patrols but the application will be also accessible to general public. Using PlateCheck will not require training or any particular knowledge of the iPhone. The application will be designed for the iPhone and iPodTouch running IOS 5+, and may require 3G access.