ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE RCMP

About The RCMP • While the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) needs no introduction, many people know this national police service only as an ensurer of safety. However, the RCMP is also a major player in preserving peace, upholding the law and providing quality service in partnership with its communities. It enforces federal laws, provides contract policing to most provinces, many municipalities and First Nations Communities. The RCMP participates in peacekeeping efforts and supplies world-leading expertise in areas like forensics and criminal intelligence to Canadian and international police. • Throughout Canada the RCMP enforces laws made by, or under, the authority of the Canadian Parliament. Administration of justice within the provinces, including enforcement of the Criminal Code, is part of the power and duty delegated to the provincial governments. The RCMP provides services under the terms of policing agreements to all provinces (except Ontario and Québec), the Yukon, Nanavut and the Northwest Territories and under separate municipal policing agreements to 198 municipalities.

• While it’s great to have national law enforcement capabilities, the challenge of operating a large-scale service with some 1200 detachments and over 21,000 members, is not to be taken lightly. The IBDN Structured Cabling system is now part of a national rollout plan to provide internetworking communications to the Canadian Police Services Network (CPSN). This network is accessed by all police jurisdiction across Canada and supports critical police applications. • In consequence with its roll-out plan, the RCMP awarded a 3-year National Individual Standing Offer (NISO), in 1996, to NORDX/CDT and Cablecom International Networking Inc. to provide the products, design and

installation to implement a uniform and certified IBDN structured cabling solution throughout all RCMP attachments. When completed, the IBDN installation will support each of the 14 RCMP divisions, plus its Headquarters in Ottawa. These divisions include some 1200 branch offices which are associated to its headquarters and to the Canadian Police Information Center (CPIC) building, where the main host computers are located and used for storing information that is accessed by police officers to find such information as fingerprints and stolen articles.

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The Issues & Challenges • The RCMP had a number of separate and different cabling systems in place, dating back to the days of IBM 3270 coaxial cabling. With almost 1200 locations and the majority of them between 10 to 20 years of age, it made sense to consolidate and standardize on one, high-quality cabling system.

• A standardized solution would simplify the management of the cabling infrastructure...

• A standardized solution would simplify the management of the cabling infrastructure but it represented a major challenge. All of the cabling systems would have to be installed and operational in all RCMP locations, coast-to-coast, recognizing that the IT operations within larger locations needed to support all remote police detachments. A unified cabling infrastructure would be the best solution to ease troubleshooting from the division headquarters.

Meeting the Challenge • The retrofit project began in early 1997 and so far, 1026 detachments have already been cabled. Approximately 150 more sites remain to be completed. It is predicted that the implementation of NPSN will be completed by the end of the year.

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The Design • The cabling system supports all data related to the CPIC, which consists of information such as license plate numbers, fingerprints, wanted criminals and other data that services the policing community. The RCMP Office Support System is a group of applications that is also supported by the cabling system, which gives users access to an internal email system, as well as an assortment of applications such as WordPerfect, Visio and many others. A smaller portion of the cabling system is used for videoconference meetings across the country.

• The RCMP’s standard for backbone cabling consists of distribution fiber optic cable. The number of strands between floors, or Telecommunications Closets (TC), in the cable is directly related to the size of the complex and the number of users. The fiber optic cable is terminated on a fiber patch panel in each TC, on an ST or SC terminal. The horizontal cabling system is built using Category 5 cable, terminated on an MDVO patch panel in the TC, and either DVO or MDVO at the wall plate. All horizontal cabling runs do not exceed 100 meters.

There are, however, a small number of exceptions to these standards. For example, in small complexes, copper can be found in the backbone cabling system. There are also a few locations that are higher security areas, where fiber optic cable is found in both the backbone and the horizontal cabling system. • Fast Ethernet to the desktop and Gigabit Ethernet in the backbone are used for data and analog synchronous video for video applications.

The Products • UTP Category 5, IBDN, FT6 drops have been installed in all RCMP locations throughout Canada. All of the drops were terminated on an MDVO panel and a white MDVO in a cabi-

net. At the workstation, all drops were terminated on a single DVO. A 7 feet and 10 feet patch cord were included with every drop.

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The Installation • The new IBDN cabling system will support the current application of 10Base-T and any future applications that the RCMP plans to implement. • This installation will be used to allow RCMP officers to access any

information that they may need from the CPIC building in Ottawa. The National Police currently services the network. Users are working at a 10Base-T level and some others working at larger locations are on a 100Base-T environment.

RCMP Outlook for the Future • «The standardization on one ca-bling system is an improvement for the RCMP administration.

The IBDN cabling system integrates and delivers advanced, user-friendly technology to enhance research and information delivery,»...

The IBDN cabling system integrates and delivers advanced, user-friendly technology to enhance research and information delivery,» says Alfie Meery, supervisor of engineering for the RCMP. «It is a reliable, robust network that allows RCMP officers to take full advantage of the tools used in research, electronic mail and administrative applications.»

• RCMP IBDN installations have been certified by NORDX/CDT under its Warranty Program which provides the installed connection and distribution hardware with a 25 year warranty that includes labor costs as wells as the network and voice applications with a Lifetime Application Assurance. All future completed IBDN installations will also receive this certification status.

• Overall, the CPSN represents an enormous success in terms of government IM/IT projects. Given the vast geography and critical applications involved, the project included the implementation of numerous solutions to gain a digital footprint to all RCMP locations throughout Canada. Included are terrestrial and satellite-based wide-area networking, integrating voice, data and imaging through frame relay and ATM services.

• This IBDN cabling infrastructure provides the RCMP with facilitated network connectivity, an extensive bandwidth capacity and high-speed to handle sophisticated data, video, and voice applications as well as the management tools and the flexibility to meet future requirements.

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Company RCMP Location Ottawa, Ontario Vertical Market Government Number of Sites/Buildings - approximately 1200 buildings over the next 3 years Cabling System IBDN Category 5 System Applications - Fast Ethernet to the desktop and Gigabit Ethernet in the backbone. - 10Base-T and 100Base-T at larger locations. - Video, Analog Synchronous Video, CPSN Research System, Electronic Mail, Internet and various administrative applications.

Certified System Vendor Cablecom International Cabling Inc. – a division of the State Group. Installation Start Date March 1996 Installation End Date March 1999 Certification Information all 1200 detachments will be Certified when the project is completed.

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