SBIR-STTR Award

According to the Department of Labor, correctional officers are the second most frequent victims of violent crime. The difference between a simple assault and severe injuries often depends on how quickly fellow officers can rescue the officer under duress. This proposed effort aims to implement and demonstrate a proof- of-concept system in which a correctional officer who is wearing a small transmitter can activate the device sending a distress signal to the Operations Center. The system localizes the endangered officer, thus allowing aid to be sent to his precise location. The high frequency, short wavelength thinking that dominates modern RF practice creates a substantial barrier to progress. Conventional RTLS vendors take wireless hardware optimized for high-data-rate communications applications and try to apply it to the challenging problem of indoor wireless location. This is true not only of UWB RTLS vendors, but also of RTLS vendors who leverage WiFi, or other 2.4GHz technologies. But communications and location are two different applications requiring fundamentally different solutions. The present opportunity defies the current paradigm of high-frequency, short-wavelength RTLS. We propose to apply Q-Track's innovative, low-frequency, long-wavelength Near-Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER) RTLS to the challenging problem of correctional officer location awareness. NFER RTLS uses long wavelength (~300m) low frequency (~1MHz) to obtain relative tracking accuracies of 30cm-1m at ranges of up to 70m at Part 15 power levels (~100mW). The proposed effort seeks to enhance the safety of corrections officers by assessing the feasibility of implementing a NFER-based Correctional Officer Distress Alarm (CODA) system within the challenging RF propagation environment of a typical correctional facilty. Q-Track's proposed CODA system effort begins with setting specifications in conjunction with corrections experts. Then we will assess noise and propagation within a typical correctional facility. These facilities are characterized by particularly dense reinforcement in their concrete walls, as well as periodic barred ""mantraps"" between sections of the building. These features make correctional facilities very difficult RF propagation environments. A preliminary survey indicates that Q-Track's low frequency, near-field approach offers considerable promise. We seek to conduct a much more comprehensive study. We further aim to implement a proof-of-concept system, deploy it within a correctional environment, and assess performance. We will generate surface plots of noise and signal characteristics, perform an error analysis including assessing the statistical distribution of location errors and generate a video showing the proof-of-concept system in action. Our objective is to demonstrate the ability of a NFER-based CODA system to allow help to be dispatched to the precise location of a correctional officer in distress. A successful system will mean enhanced security and safety for correctional officers, as well as reductions in ""burnout"" and turnover.

Public Health Relevance:
Q-Track aims to demonstrate the ability of a low-frequency, Near-Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER)- based Correctional Officer Distress Alarm (CODA) system to allow help to be dispatched to the precise location of a correctional officer in distress. A successful system will mean enhanced security and safety for correctional officers, as well as reductions in ""burnout"" and turnover.

Thesaurus Terms:

This proposed effort will conduct a pilot study in which correctional officers wear a safety device consisting of a wireless location tag with an alarm/assault detection feature. The Correctional Officer Distress Alarm (CODA) system localizes the endangered officer, thus allowing aid to be sent to his or her precise location. The expected outcome of the CODA intervention is two-fold. One is to reduce both the incidence and severity of violence related injury among correctional officers. The second is to reduce occupational stress in correctional officers by providing them an additional level of safety and protection as they perform their duties. Our team has successfully met the two specific aims of the Phase I feasibility study. The first was to design and prototype a CODA system. In support of this aim, we have worked with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, correctional officers, prison administrators, and a professional criminologist to distill requirements for CODA. We have produced a correctional officer tracking tag with a demonstrated assault detector and supporting client-server software capable of being scaled for larger deployments in large prisons. Our team has tested this prototype CODA system in a representative prison environment verifying performance in terms of accuracy, latency, and range. Phase II will include an impact study at a correctional facility with a ruggedized, operational prototype.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
The Correctional Officer Distress Alarm effort includes a pilot study in which correctional officers wear a safety device consisting of a wireless location tag with an alarm/assault detection feature. The expected outcomes are decreased violence in the workplace and reduced stress and turnover for correctional officers.

Project Terms:
No Project Terms available.