Optimum Technology Announces NIBRS:Hub™
New technology solution brings local benefits to national crime reporting

WASHINGTON, DC [March 25, 2002]
Optimum Technology today announced the framework for its first government integration solution, NIBRS:Hub. NIBRS:Hub will combine software and services into a customized solution designed to bring the benefits of the FBI’s National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to local law enforcement. The announcement was made at the 2002 SEARCH Symposium here.

“NIBRS is an important initiative which has been on the table for more than a decade, and yet fewer than 20 percent of local law enforcement agencies have adopted it,” explained Zach Zettler, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Optimum Technology. “NIBRS is especially important today, due to the critical role it can play in Homeland Security efforts as a nationally recognized standard for sharing data about crime incidents.”

Optimum Technology has gained a unique perspective on the impediments to NIBRS adoption through its work with both state and local law enforcement agencies in Ohio. NIBRS:Hub is a regional crime reporting integration framework that uses secure, web-based technologies and the NIBRS crime incident reporting standard as the basic building blocks for regional integrated justice initiatives.

“For the past decade, local law enforcement has been reluctant to make the significant software, hardware and training investments necessary to implement new, NIBRS-compliant crime reporting systems,” Zettler continued. “For too long NIBRS has been viewed as being relevant only at the state and federal level. NIBRS:Hub takes advantage of NIBRS as the common language for describing crime incidents to provide real, everyday value at the local level. And because it is designed to work with, rather than replace, existing computers and software, implementations are far less costly.”

The Tuscarawas County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) has been an early adopter of the NIBRS:Hub framework. In its first phase, the county enlisted Optimum Technology to create a countywide centralized repository for the sharing of crime data across agencies. As the countywide repository administrator, the Sheriff’s Office is able to easily upload the county’s NIBRS-compliant data to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services.

“This centralized repository makes it easier to share information and ideas across jurisdictional boundaries, helping us all to be more effective,” said Tuscarawas County Sheriff Walt Wilson. “Even though some of our local agencies use different types of computers and software, we can all get the information we need from one another and share it easily with the state.” TCSO is currently planning the second phase of the project, which will include a secure web-based portal for searching the crime data repository.

Optimum Technology is a Columbus, Ohio-based technology company founded in 1984. For more than ten years, the company has been providing government integration services to state and local government. These agencies turn to Optimum Technology for improved access to information and agency services, reduced costs due to resource sharing, and technology support for policy initiatives. To learn more, visit www.otech.com or call 614.785.1110.

Media Contact:
Carrie Reber
Telephone: 614.438.2532
Email: creber@otech.com

Zach Zettler
Telephone: 614.547.0030
Email: zach@otech.com

About Optimum Technology
Optimum Technology provides software solutions that help law and regulatory enforcement agencies fight crime and eliminate fraud by removing barriers to information sharing, improving data reliability and timeliness, and aiding collaborative investigation. The company's solutions are helping over 500 agencies across the country protect and serve more than 17 million citizens.

For more information about Optimum Technology, call 614.785.1110 or visit www.otech.com.