Center for Advanced Public Safety

The Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS) is part University of Alabama College of Engineering and specializes in advanced software research and development to assist traffic safety, law enforcement and homeland security.

Center for Advanced Public Safety
TypeResearch Unit
EstablishedLate 1980s
Parent institution
University of Alabama
DirectorDr. Laura Myers
Location, ,
United States
Websitecaps.ua.edu
University of Alabama Logo

History

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Formerly known as the CARE Research and Development Laboratory (CRDL), CAPS has its historical roots in information technology development to advance traffic safety.[1] This originated with the Critical Analysis Reporting Environment (CARE) that was initially developed to assist moderate sized cities process their traffic crash records in the mid to late 1980s on CPM-based microcomputers. CARE[2] has undergone continuous innovation over the years and is now in its tenth major version upgrade, while becoming a component of the enterprise traffic safety data system in 12 different states.

In 2017, CAPS was awarded approx. US $1.8m in funding by Governor Kay Ivey. The grants were administered through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).[3]

Projects

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App Development: CAPS participated in the development of an app, HYPE, which helps people manage their blood pressure and is available, for free, to Apple and Android users.[4]

Severe Weather Study: CAPS put out a call for volunteers to participate in a study “to see how people prepare and react to severe weather events.”[5] Participants will be interviewed before, during, and after any “bad weather events during the 2021 Spring weather season.”[5] The study is part of a federally-funded tornado study the University of Alabama is doing with the University of Oklahoma.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Roberts, Ken. "UA study looks at differences in Thanksgiving, Christmas wrecks". Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  2. ^ Parrish, A., B. Dixon, D. Cordes, S. Vrbsky and D. Brown, “CARE: An Automobile Crash Data Analysis Tool,” IEEE Computer, vol. 36, no. 6, June 2003, pp. 22-30.
  3. ^ "Governor awards University of Alabama grants for traffic safety information and technology". Traffic Technology Today. 2017-08-13. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  4. ^ Mapp, Annie (2021-02-24). "University of Alabama develops app that helps monitor hypertension". WBMA. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  5. ^ a b Digital, WVTM 13 (2021-02-04). "University of Alabama seeking volunteers for severe weather study". WVTM. Retrieved 2021-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Morgan, Leigh (2019-12-20). "Want to help with severe weather research?". al. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
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