Miami-Dade County - Office of the Mayor

Miami-Dade County announces the development of the Community on Patrol Application

MIAMI, May 5, 2015) – Today at eMerge Americas, Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez announced the development of an innovative new technology and service for the citizens of Miami-Dade County called Community On Patrol Application (COPA). The app was developed by Miami-Dade County’s Information Technology Department, Miami-Dade County’s Police Department, Microsoft and ZCO Corporation to further develop the application for smart phone compatibility.

COPA is a community policing mobile application, which will allow our 2.6 million residents to be on patrol in their neighborhoods and report criminal or suspicious activity to the Miami-Dade Police Department and is part of a focus on bringing together public private technology partnerships on behalf of the County.

“As Mayor of Miami-Dade County, I believe it is important to utilize technology to engage citizens in improving their quality of life,” said Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “The Community On Patrol Application will allow our 2.6 million residents to aid our police officers in ensuring Miami-Dade County is a safe place to live. It is our collective responsibility to make Miami-Dade County a safer place to live, work and visit and this app will put additional community policing power in the hands of our residents.”

Mayor Gimenez’s introduction of COPA is part of his effort to further engage citizens and empower them with a number of tools to improve the neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County. The Mayor plans to introduce a number of apps in the coming months as a way of ultimately opening up government and utilize available data to better citizen services. To view a current list of Miami-Dade County applications, visit http://www.miamidade.gov/mobile-applications/.

Since Public Safety is the top priority for the Mayor, the COPA is the first one that will begin testing among employees and residents in June.

“Because public safety is a priority for Mayor Gimenez, he continually seeks new ways to transform how Miami-Dade empowers its citizens to make the community safer,” said Michael Donlan, Microsoft’s Vice President of State and Local Government. “The Community On Patrol App will not only take advantage of Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud to scale on demand, but it also represents a new model of community policing -- powered by the cloud -- that other cities will be watching closely as they examine Microsoft’s CityNext approaches to safer communities.”

COPA will have the capability of allowing citizens to report tips to law enforcement. It is integrated with Miami-Dade County’s Geographic Information Systems and the Miami-Dade Real-time Crime Center. The app is entirely cloud-based and can be used in multiple types of devices. The app should be used for non-emergency matters and will provide citizen’s the ability to:

Anonymously report tips to the MDPD Command Center
Ability to upload videos, photos and notes
Alert 911 in emergencies
Identify and provide residential location of sexual offenders
File police reports
Commend MDPD Officers

The official launch of COPA is planned for summer. COPA is an addition to Miami-Dade County apps critical for the improved safety of all citizens. For more information please visit: https://youtu.be/U1AiC2TwYpI to view a brief introduction video.