Using data from a countrywide poll of first responders, Mark43 has released the 2023 U.S. Public Safety Trends Report, which concludes that cutting-edge technology is essential for effective police in the current era. In fact, eighty-six percent of police and fire personnel seek better access to crime and incident reporting that takes advantage of the flexibility, availability, and security offered by cloud computing.

Also, 57% of respondents agreed that their organisation could use an integrated platform to expedite reporting if they had one.

The importance of technology to the operation of a public safety organisation is a thread that runs through the entirety of the study. It needs to be embedded in the fabric of the whole company. This insight is a game-changer for the development of the industry as a whole, since the technology can no longer be treated as an afterthought or an afterthought.

In 2022, public safety organisations began realising they needed to migrate their computer assisted dispatch (CAD), records management system (RMS), and analytics technologies from an on-premises solution, where physical servers were handled in-house. Instead, businesses are shifting to cloud-native systems, which host all of their computing needs in the cloud. This includes their networks, servers, storage, apps, and services.

Further, it is becoming harder to justify the use of on-premises systems due to the pandemic, an increase in weather catastrophes, and cyberattacks, and related security concerns. More than two-thirds of respondents (68%), the research says, state that they must go to a physical place, such as a station house or office, to submit needed documentation rather than employing cloud technology to accomplish these chores digitally and from any remote location.

Thankfully, first responders recognise the value of having access to mobile devices while on duty. In fact, 93 percent of first responders say they rely on their mobile devices for emergency dispatch apps, evidence capture, and community and workplace collaboration.

Overall, this new trend analysis emphasises first responders’ hope that 2023 will be the year we witness an industry-wide transformation as public safety agencies speed up their transition to cloud-native technologies.