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CHP's CIO: To Procure, Protect and Serve

As the CIO of the California Highway Patrol, Chief Scott Howland procures the tech — but he also uses it, whether in the office targeting cybercrime, or in the field on patrol. He offers his views about those roles and more in this email interview with Techwire.

Whether communicating or fighting crime, technology is a life-and-death proposition for the men and women who work for the California Highway Patrol. The agency's award-winning CIO, is responsible not only for IT procurement, but also for its use in the office and in the field. 

“We want to be cutting edge, not bleeding edge,” says Chief Scott Howland, the department’s chief information officer, who oversees, among other things, IT policy and procurement. That’s no small feat for an agency with 11,000 employees, about 75 percent of whom are sworn (meaning they wear a badge). Howland, a 27-year veteran of the CHP, has the eclectic credentials to carry it off — he’s earned a bachelor’s degree in TV/radio, a master’s degree in business and a doctorate in education.

Techwire posed some questions to Howland about the CHP’s IT needs, his role, and what the future may hold in terms of police procurement. Here is a transcript of the email exchange, lightly edited for clarity and style:

Techwire: With IT oversight for a huge and storied state law enforcement agency, what are your top three criteria for a successful IT procurement by the CHP? In other words, from an IT perspective, what does it look like when things go right?

Howland: Like to all CIOs, on time and on budget are important. However, I work to view my role not from an IT perspective, but rather a mission perspective. With that in mind, there is one factor that is critical to defining success: Does the project move the CHP forward in our mission? The business benefits of an IT project are the real measure of success. How well does the project make our employees more effective and efficient in order to provide a higher level of service to the public? I want to ensure our projects equip our employees to save more lives and provide a higher level of service, whether it is better information for decision-making or efficiency that provides more time. More time equates to providing more services like assisting disabled motorists, educating drivers on the dangers of texting and driving, and more time to remove impaired and dangerous drivers from our roads.

TW: You meet regularly with the CIOs and AIOs of other state agencies and departments. Given that your domains are so varied — education, law enforcement, governance, and even horse racing — what do you all talk about when you gather to talk shop?

Howland: Despite vastly different missions, we all share very similar goals and challenges when it comes to IT. Given the CHP's role of investigating cybercrimes against state IT resources, cybersecurity is one of those constant topics as we work with our partners at the Department of Technology, Office of Emergency Services and Military Department to increase our cybersecurity across the state enterprise. We also discuss our similar challenges of maintaining day-to-day operations while working to implement more efficient technologies to increase our effectiveness as organizations using the limited resources that we each have. One of the biggest benefits is learning from one another. As an example, as we transitioned to Office 365, my team was able to learn valuable information from others that have completed their transition ahead of us. It is great being part of a larger IT community that supports and helps one another. 

TW: Is it jarring for you to wear a uniform to work one day and perhaps stop to help a stranded motorist, and then put on a suit and tie the next day to testify before the state Legislature on cybersecurity or budget issues?

Howland: That diversity is one of the great parts of my role. I think it is a great example of the variety of roles that exist within the larger team contributing to the service that the CHP provides. Most people think of an officer in a black and white patrol car when they think about the CHP. To support those officers, there are approximately 3,300 civilian employees who perform a wide array of critical roles in the background to keep the department operating every day. It takes the efforts of all the employees to provide the service that the CHP provides every day. I am fortunate to be able to provide both front-line service to the public while providing support with IT and communications to ensure officers and other employees have the tools they need. I joined the CHP to provide service to the public and still love having contact with the public and providing direct service when I have the opportunity, whether that is assisting a disabled motorist, appropriately educating a driver who may be unclear on the rules of the road, or assisting parties that have been involved in a collision.

TW: You’ve mentioned that each CHP patrol car has four different public safety radios, to allow officers to communicate with the scores of other law enforcement agencies up and down the state. What else is there about the CHP’s IT that might surprise a civilian?

Howland: The CHP relies on its large mobile fleet of over 2,000 patrol cars and 400 motorcycles to provide service on our highways. Unlike most government agencies, the CHP’s core business operations are provided in a mobile environment in the patrol vehicles. CHP’s mobile technology infrastructure connects our officers to our 25 communications centers and provides the communications and information our officers need to provide the highest level of safety, service and security. Connecting the public to our officers are over 700 Public Safety Dispatchers who answered over 7.7 million 911 calls in 2016.

TW: Are there any parts of your role as CIO of the CHP that may be surprising to others? 

Howland: Probably the biggest surprise for many is the law enforcement aspect of my role. I have responsibility for our Computer Crimes Investigations Unit, which is responsible for investigating cybercrimes against state of California IT resources. Our team is made up of criminal investigators that are forensically trained to pursue criminal investigations of those that commit cybercrime against the state. Team members are also part of the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force and are cross-sworn U.S. Marshals. This helps extend our reach outside California and increases our collaboration with the law enforcement community. Seeing firsthand the attacks that are occurring across state government assists us in securing our own network. We also share the intelligence that we learn from our investigations with the California Cyber Security Integration Center so that intelligence can be shared across the state enterprise and beyond to enable others to take proactive actions to better protect themselves from ever-changing cyberthreats.

Dennis Noone is Executive Editor of Industry Insider. He is a career journalist, having worked at small-town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies including USA Today in Washington, D.C.