Public Information

A web application that allows the general public to review event and incident information published by the fire or police department.

Crawl

Using paper maps to periodically give current, visual information to the community and media is a valuable tool for Public Information Officers to describe an incident and its impact on the local community. These maps contain the most current releasable information on the situation, evacuation areas, shelter locations, and expected events over the next operational period.

Walk

Web-based maps are the next step in creating valuable information that needs to be communicated to the community and media. These maps can be posted more often than paper maps can be created and distributed and have the added advantage of being the single source of good information – avoiding the confusion the distribution of paper maps can create.

Run

The best use of GIS to support Public Safety Agencies happens when the PIO has immediate and constant access to dynamic incident information. These systems allow field units to input observations they have in the field, plans/intel units to see these markups and QA/QC them, and the PIO to watch it live, select the incident, and publish the online mapping to the public and media with one click. This drastically speeds the flow of information, giving the public access to information almost as fast as it is occuring. This workflow has the benefit of making the PIO the best source of information thus allowing the incident to communicate critical, time-sensitive information to everyone involved. This is important because very often the incident and PIO are slow to release information (struggling to get it) and the roar of the public, the internet, social media, and mainstream media overwhelm the process. By quickly and proactively releasing information, the incident PIO becomes the ‘lightning rod’ for attention and best communicates the important message.

Example: Search Public Information at ArcGIS Online

Example: Emergency Management Maps