The current Command & Control System (CC II), better known as the beat radio system, has been in operation since 1990. The communications infrastructure and radio handsets used in CC II are facing obsolescence and must be replaced by 2004 if operational efficiency is not to be affected by serviceability issues of the radio equipment.

A team of professional staff from Information Systems Wing and Operations Wing researched the available technology in the global communications field and decided that CC III would use a digital trunked radio platform and adopt the TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA) standard. TETRA has the potential to support both voice and data transmission, which is expected to provide benefits and features not available with the old analogue radio platform and this means that Police services to the public will be enhanced further as a result.

The CC III system will be designed to provide the HKPF with highly responsive and resilient capabilities to better address increasing safety and security needs that have emerged around the world. Following completion of the tendering exercise that commenced in early 2002, the contract for the CC III project was awarded to Motorola Inc on March 8, 2003 at contract price of HK$540 million which includes nine years of maintenance service. The agreement calls for Motorola to deliver a completely integrated command and control communications system consisting of four major components:

(1) An Integrated Communications System with voice and data capabilities based on the TETRA standard;

(2) A 999 Emergency Telephone System with automatic emergency caller number and location identification capability;

(3) A Mobile Computing System allowing officers to access necessary information from their radio handsets and/or mobile data terminals; and

(4) An Automatic Vehicle Location System that will allow dispatchers to better allocate resources to attend emergency incidents as well as a Geographic Information System that will allow the emergency call takers and dispatchers to more quickly and accurately identify the location of emergency incidents and police vehicles notably Emergency Unit vehicles, Traffic vehicles (including motorcycles), Marine Police cars and Police Training Unit command vehicles.

The CC III system will support an integrated command and control environment that will include radio, telephone, incident handling, voice logging, automated action cards, and support for external interfaces to computer systems in selected Government Departments. To the end users, the new system will also provide the following major benefits:

(1) Radio coverage, both in terms of cross-communication between frontline officers and areas covered, will be enhanced in support of their operations;

(2) The new handheld radios will be lighter and smaller than the existing CC II radios;

(3) Its new digitised, air-to-air encrypted transmission platform will greatly enhance protection against eavesdropping and unauthorised access.

To the public, the new system will improve Police services in the following ways:

(1) It will allow frontline officers direct access through their radios to various information systems including EPONICS for wanted or missing person checks, VALID for stolen vehicle checks, and ROPS for forged ID card checks. Such functionality will greatly improve the utilisation and efficiency of the new communications system and enhance the quality of service provided by HKPF.

(2) The new 999 Emergency Telephone System will provide a speedier response to emergency calls when all lines are engaged by also provisioning the District Consoles for handling 999 calls in each RCCC, to deal with sudden surges. The new Caller Address Sub System (CAS) will also enable call takers to search the reported caller address information (fixed line) for speedier response.

(3) Serving as an integrated communications system for beat patrol officers and patrol officers deployed to the Traffic Branch, PTU and EU, the new system will improve communications between frontline officers and facilitate the efficient and effective deployment of resources during emergencies and large-scale operations. In addition, with AVLS and GIS, the Police will be able to keep track of the position of Police emergency response vehicles on electronic maps and direct the nearest, if not otherwise engaged, to the scene of a crime or incident. This will facilitate more flexible and efficient deployment of resources and faster tactical response to incidents.

The projected dates for the roll-out of the CC III system are: the 4th Quarter of 2004 for New Territories Regions; the 2nd Quarter of 2005 for Hong Kong Island Region; and, the 1st Quarter of 2006 for Kowloon Regions.

CC III is not only a digital radio infrastructure built to an open standard which allows an incremental approach to future system enhancement but also proves to be the most cost-effective and scalable platform for the public service organisations of the HKSAR. In the long run, CC III will be developed as a common radio platform shared by disciplinary agencies and government departments. For everyday usage, each agency has virtually his own section of the platform for his exclusive use with absolute security and autonomy. During emergency situations, the system can be re-programmed to facilitate inter-operability amongst various agencies and centralised command of communications as well as control of deployment of resources.

In parallel with the development of the CC III project, a separate tender has been issued for upgrading the system hardware and software of ECACCS to develop the Third Generation Command & Control Computer System (CACCS 3). The tender for CACCS 3 system hardware and software is being finalised and the contract is expected to be awarded in early April. With CACCS 3, the text mode user interface of ECACCS will be enhanced with Graphical User Interface and Chinese language support, which means a more user friendly man-machine interface and the advantage of less training time.

Director of Management Services, Mr Yam Tat-wing, and Motorola Incorporated's Vice President, Mr John Gherghetta after the contract-signing ceremony for CC III