Peekskill to Build First Municipal WiFi System in County

With a $300,000 federal grant and the recent
selection of a contractor, the city of Peekskill will oversee construction of
the first municipal WiFi system in Westchester County to serve the needs of police, fire, water and sewer and
other city departments. The network is expected to be completed over the summer
and is being constructed so employees can perform certain aspects of their jobs
more efficiently, according to city officials.

“This WiFi system has real practical applications that can help
us save time and tax dollars,” Mayor Mary F. Foster said this week. “As budgets
continue to shrink, we have to find more effective ways to use technology to
provide efficient, quality municipal services
to residents and business owners. This is a major step forward in being able to
enhance the delivery and performance of a variety of city services.”

Once in place, the system will let police, firefighters,
building inspectors, public works crews, water department crews, parks staff
and other city personnel carry out their tasks in the field with access to City
Hall records. 

Police can monitor cameras from onsite locations in real time
as well as complete reports from their vehicles without having to report to
headquarters. Fire personnel en route to and on the scene of a fire will be
able to view layouts of buildings and file reports from their trucks. City Hall
employees will be able to perform inspections, identify street lights and roads
that need repair, write up code violations and, in real time, relay the
information back to City Hall.

The initial capacity will be for secured use by city
personnel. Additional capacity is being built into the system to allow expansion
of shared uses by other government entities like the school district at a later
date.

Peekskill received a COPS Technology Program
grant for $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund and construct
the municipal WiFi system. The city also allocated $50,000 in the 2011 capital budget
toward the project. Conxx
recently was awarded the $348,000 contract to build and maintain the system. When
completed the WiFi network is expected to cover 80% of the city.