Colorado First Responder Agencies Modernize Public Safety Systems with Oracle to Better Support Citizens and Staff

First responder agencies in Archuleta County, Colorado, are using Oracle Public Safety’s unified hardware and software suite to more effectively communicate and share information across agencies. The modern public safety platform is helping the agencies speed issue resolution and gain the real-time situational awareness needed to help enhance the safety of its first responders and the community. The agencies went live with Oracle in March 2024 and have continued to adopt regular updates and innovations in the suite.

Archuleta County is surrounded by nearly three million acres of National Forest with easy access to the Rocky Mountains and southern Colorado’s picturesque landscape. In addition to its growing population, the area is visited by thousands of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts each year. Prior to implementing Oracle’s public safety technology, Archuleta County agencies were using outdated systems that limited inter-agency coordination. This lack of a centralized mobile communications system meant relying on radio communications to convey information among five first response organizations, including Pagosa Springs Police Department, Pagosa Fire Protection District, Pagosa Springs Medical Center Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Archuleta County Combined Dispatch Center, and the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our agencies are responsible for 2,000 square miles, and the number of people in the region depends heavily on time of year and the tourists visiting,” said Mike Le Roux, sheriff, Archuleta County. “Our old dispatch and CAD systems could not keep pace with multiple incidents at the same time due to a lack of centralized information across agencies. With Oracle Public Safety Suite, we can capture and share data and communicate more efficiently and optimize our staffing conditions, which empowers our teams to quickly and effectively coordinate to resolve incidents and maintain the well-being of our citizens.”

Hear more about Archuleta County’s story at: https://bit.ly/3WR2ZhR

With Oracle, the Sheriff's Office now also has the ability to complete reports using tablets in the field rather than spending shift time in the station writing reports, meaning more time spent in the community. In addition, the modern tools enable Archuleta to be more efficient in managing everyday tasks, such as completing the entire booking process in as few as 15 minutes versus 45 minutes or more with the prior system.

Learn how other Archuleta County agencies are benefitting:

“With the Oracle Public Safety Suite, we have a real-time, complete view of where our officers are and everyone involved in an incident—from dispatchers to responders—has up-to-the-second access to all the information regarding the situation and can add additional information as it comes in,” said William Rockensock, chief of police, Pagosa Springs Police Department. “Being able to access and upload this critical information quickly and easily has made our department more efficient and better equipped to maintain the safety of our citizens and visitors. It's truly a one-stop shop for a comprehensive law enforcement package.”

“Oracle has been a game changer for us in a number of ways, including providing new primary CAD mapping for critical GIS coordination across our county agencies,” said Connie Cook, deputy chief for Pagosa Springs Medical Center EMS. “Additionally, the information we can now access and relay using Oracle’s mobile data terminals has also provided immediate benefits in our ability to provide more effective patient care. As another example, we have greatly improved our efficiency through the flexibility to individually run customized reports without burdening dispatch.”

“We continue to experience benefits from the Oracle CAD system that are helping to grow our capabilities and improve our community services in invaluable ways,” said Liz Blizzard, emergency communications commander, Archuleta County. “Interactive mapping features enable us to pinpoint the locations of callers and our units, leading to faster response times and more accurate arrival time estimates given to callers to provide extra comfort. The Core Index tool is essential to our dispatch function by providing the ability to do a person search and see all of their information and records in one place. Additionally, new capabilities that enable to create case numbers for units and reopen incidents have been incredible additions.”

Created in partnership with first responders and law enforcement technology experts, the Oracle Public Safety Suite offers modern, cloud-based dispatch command center, personal and vehicle communications, and records and jail management solutions designed for efficiency and safety. Built on the performance and scalability of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the suite is designed to help agencies meet their CJIS Security Policy requirements and enables agencies of all sizes to get up and running quickly to help lower costs and complexity.

“Our mission is to make work more efficient and productive for all first responders,” said Steve Seoane, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Local Government. “This comprehensive deployment of Oracle Public Safety Suite gives Archuleta County cross-agency insights and efficiencies, enabling them to better address incidents and help ensure the safety of those in the community.”

Learn more about Oracle Public Safety Suite, visit https://www.oracle.com/government/state-local/public-safety/.