Case Study: Police Service of Northern Ireland achieves improved emergency command and situational awareness with SMART Technologies

Police Service of Northern Ireland BIA Silver Command takes control

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) identified major gaps in airport command and emergency-planning facilities after a 500-person multi‑agency exercise at Belfast International Airport in November 2004. The challenge was to create an on‑site Silver Command suite capable of managing large‑scale incidents and complex, fast‑moving public‑order events such as the annual 12 July parades.

PSNI and the airport invested £400,000 to open the BIA Command Centre in July 2005, equipping it with SMART Board interactive whiteboards, three Sympodiums linked to projectors and tested satellite links to other sites. The new technology delivered real‑time maps and unit tracking, improving situational awareness during exercises and live parades, and has been rolled out across Gold and DCU Silver Command suites with plans for further agency integration.

Police Service of Northern Ireland