In addition to providing information on the equipment that other agencies have bought, along with which vendor and for how much, the software linked to the database enables users to find a vendor that meets the right qualifications and make a request for purchase based on another agency's existing purchase order. Although all agencies purchase equipment, they use different technologies to record their information. The technology reviewed in this article normalizes information into a single database and allows agencies to share information and identify vendors they would not otherwise have known. The database includes about 200 million purchase orders from 8,500 local, State, and government agencies. Agencies can also use the technology to obtain the names of other agencies to use for reference checks rather than using agency names provided by a vendor. Captain Tom Labombarda of the Aventura Police Department (Florida) explains how his agency has used the database.
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