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Browse our knowledge base for some of the most common inquiries about OPS and the OPS Network.

General FAQ

What is OPS?

OPS stands for Online Policing Solutions and is the common term used for the National Law Enforcement and Community Policing Integrated Network. OPS is the world’s only all-in-one law enforcement specific community policing network solution, operating system and secure communication portal designed for law enforcement by law enforcement. 

Can anyone access the OPS Network?

Yes and No. The OPS Network Command Center side for each agency is a secure network reserved for accredited and/or authorized United States Government Law Enforcement agencies. Only sworn and active duty law enforcement officers and agencies can access the OPS Network Command Center and its tools. All officers must be granted access by an active law enforcement agency for which they are associated with. Non-sworn law enforcement personnel or support staff can access limited parts of the network (i.e: report ordering tools, press release tools, etc…) if granted by agency leadership, but are not permitted to access the OPS Network™ law enforcement specific tools, such as the communications platform, the law enforcement directory or officer bio information.

Community members have access to each agency’s Community Interface, which offers many of the same tools and resources as the agency uses, but they have no access to the secure side of the OPS Network.

What is a Partnership Project?

As a Partnership Project, the OPS Network is supported by those law enforcement agencies and communities that have made a real commitment to transparency and partnership in public safety. By these agencies and communities supporting the OPS Network, they are supporting the concept of continued advancement in policing and public trust.

What is the OPS Advisory Board?

The OPS Advisory Board partakes in the oversight and recommendation of all aspects of the OPS Network. The Board is comprised of recognized experts from various fields to include current and former law enforcement officers (municipal, state, county and federal), software engineers, business leaders, education leaders, community members and political figures.

All Advisory Board members volunteer thier time and none are financially compensated by Online Policing Solutions, Inc. to participate on the board. This is to ensure that all advice, guidance and expertise is guided by good sound judgement and for the betterment of our OPS Network™ partners and communities, not for personal or financial gain.

Does OPS offer Report Management or CAD Software?

No. The OPS Nework offers near endless communty engagement and agency effeciency and management tools but does not offer Report Generation Systems or CAD/Dispatch related tools. There are many qaulity tools on the market for these purposes. The OPS Command Center does however allow any agency to integrate access points to any of these systems, that are cloud based, for easy access from the Command Center.

How is OPS different from the file sharing solutions on the market?

Unlike the many “file sharing platforms” on the market today, the OPS Network is a secure, United States governmental law enforcement only network. While OPS has file sharing and storing functions, as well as numerous inter-agency and intra- agency collaboration tools; these tools make up a very small part of the overall OPS Network, its functions and mission.

The OPS Network provides endless tools and solutions that allow law enforcement to not only partner with each other and their community, but to drastically improve operational efficiency, services and so much more.

In addition, the OPS Network is solely focused on law enforcement. OPS does not offer access or solutions for the private sector or any other governmental entities. OPS is 100% law enforcement – 24/7.

In a nutshell, (to use an old expression) comparing the OPS Network to standard file sharing platforms is like comparing “apples to oranges”.

Is there a FREE Trial?

On occasion OPS is asked if a user or agency can try OPS or if there is a “trial period”. As this is customary for many types of solutions these inquiries are certainly understandable.

Unfortunately, unlike most software solutions that provide these type “trials”, OPS is a secure law enforcement only network that requires specific authorizations, activations, access approvals, training, and other procedures for users and agencies to be granted access to the network. Without these approvals, users cannot be authorized to access the network, making temporary trials or access difficult. The security of the OPS Network and all our partner agencies and officers is of primary importance. These stringent procedures were put into place to ensure the highest level of network integrity and for this reason, “trial” accounts are not offered or available for OPS.

For agencies preparing to join and support the OPS Network, In-person, or virtual tours, as well as detailed demos of OPS, are available as often as requested.

Community Related

How does the community benefit from OPS?

The benefits for your community are limitless and include real time contact with their public safety institutions, numerous tools and resources to help them engage and many ways to help make their community safer for everyone.

With OPS, each community becomes an extension of the agency and a partner in pubic safety. 

Are there limits on how often community member use OPS or charges to the community?

No. OPS was developed to encourage engagement. Community members can access any agency’s OPS Community Interface as often as needed or desired.

How can our agency promote the OPS Network so the public is aware?

For starters, every OPS Network Partner is encouraged to announce that they are an OPS agency via local media and other outlets. Letting the public know you have taken a major step in partnering with them is a big deal and should be celebrated.

Also, in every OPS Network Partner Agencies Help Center, which is accessed via the OPS Command Center, OPS provides professional agency branded promotional material such as posters, handouts, pocket cards and more that can be used and distributed to the public during events, in agency lobbies and during community outreach gatherings.

Do community members have to download an APP or login to use the OPS Network?

No APPS are required for the community to use the OPS Network. Much development has gone into making OPS completely web based and easy to use by your community, no matter their technical skill or knowledge.

Getting Started

As an agency, how do we get started?

To get started activating your agency’s OPS Network, click HERE.

As a user, how do I get started?

You must be an active member of a United States Government Law Enforcement Agency to create a user account and gain access to the OPS Network. Contact your agency administration for information.

If you are a community member, and want to find your local law enforcement’s OPS Community Interface, you can search on GoPolice.org. If you cannot find your agency, contact your local law enforcement leadership and encourage them to explore becoming an OPS Network Partner Agency.

Does OPS require any specialized training?

No. OPS has been designed, from the very first piece of code, to be simple to use. Most officers and community members will learn to use OPS on their own in a very short amount of time.

With that said, help buttons are provided in the OPS system, each agency has a very detailed help center located in the OPS Command Center,the OPS support line is available 24 hours and on-site training is available.

Does OPS provide on site agency training?

Yes. If your agency requests agency-wide training once you become an OPS Network Partner, OPS will provide same. There is no charge for this training.

Is there any hardware required by our agency?

No. The OPS Network runs via the cloud from the OPS Network System and operates on any computer, tablet or smartphone.

Finance Related

Why is OPS solely supported by law enforcement?

Many, if not most, modern applications collect data (known as data-mining), share information about content and users and use servers and developers that are maintained/employed abroad/overseas.

Being solely supported by law enforcement ensures that no third party entities are needed to support the network. For this reason, the data and information shared, stored and utilized in the OPS Network remains secure and completely contained within the network. OPS does not data-mine or share any information. 

ALL OPS Network servers are maintained in the United States and all development is conducted in-house, by OPS Network developers, with the oversight of law enforcement, right here in the U.S.

 

Do agencies pay for each BLOC™ and extension?

NO. When your agency becomes an OPS Network Partner, all tools and extensions (everything), is included. Much like a library, each agency chooses the tools they wish to utilize to fit thier jurisdictional needs. Agencies can choose a few tools or all of them at once.

Once a BLOC™, extension or tool is made live in the OPS Network, all agencies have access to fully use it for no cost to the agency or public.

As OPS grows, do the costs increase?

NO. OPS is always growing. OPS has a fifteen (15) member Executive board that consists of active duty and retired law enforcement officers and executives, software developers, business and political advisers and private citizens that meet regularly to discuss the state of OPS. The board is tasked with expressing how to improve existing services and develop new services. When a new component or improvement is developed, all full service agencies will receive the update as part of the system. All of this comes at no increased cost to agencies.

OPS is a living, growing asset that your agency will grow with. 

**Some Extensions (software in software) require minimal additional support fees. 

Will agencies actually save money with OPS?

Yes! When used to its full potential, the OPS system will drastically increase efficiency and save hundreds of investigative and administrative hours each and every year, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars saved annually. In addition to this, the commitment to public outreach, the life saving and investigative tools that will serve your community, the image and brand development for your agency and the highlights for political leaders are all benefits that are priceless and cannot be computed in dollars and cents.

New Jersey Law Enforcement

Online Policing Solutions, Inc. currently manages the OPS Network aquisition process for all New Jersey law enforcement agencies via New Jersey Custom Agreement #22-T3121-OPS01. 

If you are a recognized law enforcement agency operating in New Jersey, you can contact OPS or our technology partners to begin the simple process of implementing your OPS Network.

  

Technical Related

Will OPS work on all browsers?

The OPS Network is a modern network software solution and will function on all modern browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, etc.. Google Chrome is the preferred browser platform. OPS does NOT support Internet Explorer (IA) as IA has not been updated since 2015, is no longer being developed by Microsoft and does not support modern solutions.

If you or your agency are not using Google Chrome, you can download it HERE.

How secure is OPS?

The OPS Network is extremely secure, exceeds industry standards for network security and is FBI CJIS Compliant. In addition, since OPS runs outside of your agencies internal network, there is no threat of intrusion to your agency systems, NCIC, etc… 

What types of agencies is OPS designed for?

OPS was designed for all types of law enforcement agencies. From police departments, Sheriff’s Departments, District Attorney and Prosecutor’s Offices, State and Federal agencies and many more. If your are a law enforcement agency, OPS is your network.

Does OPS Serve Multiple Languages?

Yes. The Community Interface (website) is multilingual and can easily be switched by the user to support more than 100 languages.

Are OPS Community Interfaces ADA Compliant?

Yes. While web-based ADA compliance is an evolving arena, OPS provides an easy to use platform that allows agencies to comply with preferred ADA standards. 

The below provides basic information on ADA compliance features regarding all OPS Network Community Interfaces in line with recognized “Website Content Accessibility Guidelines” (WCAG).

Basic OPS Netowrk | WCAG – ADA Quick Checklist

✔️ Provides the ability for a color contrast ratio at an appropriate level for visually impaired users.
✔️ Underlined text leads to a link where appropriate.
✔️ Users can resize text to 200% without changing the form or screen orientation.
✔️ Does not use images where text has the same effect or meaning.
✔️ Text language is identifiable in the code even with language changes.
✔️ Pages are accessible in several easy to navigate ways.
✔️ Multiple methods of navigation provided.
✔️ No information is conveyed solely by a symbol.
✔️ No information is conveyed solely through color.
✔️ There is no content or element displayed in items such as image carousels.
✔️ No information or navigation uses drop-downs, accordions or combo boxes.
✔️ Provides descriptive and unique page titles.
✔️ Change of context does not happen in the application when changing any UI component.
✔️ Tab focus indicators provided on each interactive element.

1. Helpful Page Titles and Subheadings
• OPS Provides every agency the ability to provide users with simple, easy-to-follow page titles and subheadings.
2. Use of Bold Colors
• OPS allows all agencies to select two basic overall colors. The main color (usually the darker color) and the text and accent color (usually the lighter color). These colors are designed to contrast each other for the ease of reading.
3. Language and Text
• All OPS text is coded properly to be readable by any screen reader in any converted language.
4. Multi-Lingual
• All OPS Community Interfaces provide the option to convert to over 100 languages, all of which comply with standard screen readers.
5. Design and Aesthetics
• All OPS Community Interfaces are designed to not only be visually appealing, but easy to navigate for all users. No “sliders” or complicated animations are utilized. In addition, navigation is offered from many easy to navigate and bold sections throughout the platform.
6. Use of Simple Writing
• OPS encourages agencies to provide easy to understand text that can be adjusted with no technical skill.
7. Options to Increase Text Size
• OPS is developed to be utilized via all modern browsers and is coded to allow the use of all built in browser tools commonly used to increase text size. Increases in text size, up to 200X, are visible on the screen via responsive technology without bleeding.
8. Easy to Navigate
• OPS does NOT use drop-down menus, accordions or combo boxes for navigation. Navigation is provided via the main menu and internal “FLASHCARDS” of “BLOCS” to access each sub-menu or page. In addition, navigation is offered from many other easy to navigate sections throughout the platform.
9. No Restrictions on Page Orientation
• All OPS Community Interfaces are designed with responsive technology, meaning the platform will adjust and conform to any orientation, screen size or resolution.

 

Will OPS run on all smartphones and tablets?

Absolutely. The OPS system uses 100% modern responsive technology which means the front-end, all of the modules and all system back-end tools will be easy to use on any device. 

Can we turn on/off tools we may not use?

Yes. Each agency can deactivate any tool that they may not wish to use with the simple click of a button. These same components can be activated any time.

Are there any APPS to download with OPS?

The OPS Network runs via the cloud and was purposely developed so that no data heavy APPS or complicated logins are required. With that said, the OPS Command Center and all of its functions can be utilized and maintained via the OPS Agency Control APP.

Can OPS Network Partners communicate via the network?

Yes. The OPS Network includes a robust and powerful inter-agency and officer to officer communications tool.

Do we need specialized technical personnel and/or does this system require any work by our agency IT department?

No. OPS Support will handle all OPS related concerns or technical issues. Your agency IT Department will not take on additional responsibilities for your OPS Network.

The only possible lift by your agency’s IT would be to “white label” the OPS Network domain in the e-mail system so that email notifications, sent from the network to members, do not get blocked by any web filters in place.

 

Development Related

What is an OPS BLOC™

An OPS BLOC™ (Basic Logistical Operating Component) is an individual software component (unique to the OPS Network) that provides one or more specific functions for both community and law enforcement users. The OPS Network, which is a secure enterprise-level network application, includes numerous OPS BLOC(s)™ each serving a unique and separate operation within the network as a whole.

Each BLOC™ is utilized on the front-end by the community and, at times, officers to add or view information. The back-end is where the agency accesses that information and utilizes the tools to capitalize on that information. 

Can we suggest a BLOC™ or improvement?

Yes. All OPS Network Partner Agencies are encouraged to make BLOC™ or system improvement suggestions. All suggestions are reviewed by the OPS Board and if approved, released to the OPS development team. Once developed, the new tool, module or improvement is released to all OPS Network Partner Agencies for use.

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© 2024 Online Policing Solutions, Inc.  All Rights Reserved