NCJ Number
85056
Date Published
1975
Length
24 pages
Annotation
After analyzing the salient issues in relation to the needs of Los Angeles, this report recommends a procurement plan for an emergency command control communications system (ECCCS) that will lead to the implementation of a centralized configuration.
Abstract
Two types of computer system configurations are being considered for the ECCCS of the Los Angeles Police Department. The alternatives are the centralized configuration, planned around a single computer, and the distributed or decentralized configuration, based upon a number of computers at several locations. In the evaluation study, it was assumed that the centralized configuration would use a dedicated primary computer and shared backup computer, while the distributed configuration would be comprised of several minicomputers dedicated exclusively to the ECCCS. In developing the recommendation for the centralized configuration, a number of issues were identified and allocated to one of four major life cycle categories: acquisition, operations, enhancement, and costs. In the area of acquisition, the software technology associated with centralized systems is more seasoned and more widely disseminated than the recently developed technology associated with decentralized systems. Regarding operations, the distributed system was judged to be considerably superior to the centralized system in overall reliability, but in the matter of enhancement, the availability of a central development facility with sophisticated programming aids is an advantage of the centralized system. It appears that the software costs for the distributed system will be greater than the software for the centralized system; however, the hardware costs will be greater for the centralized system but not to the extent that this outweighs the other advantages of the centralized system. Tabular data are provided for the weighting score of the various factors considered in comparing the two systems.