Superion, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, has acquired Public Safety Corporation.
Public Safety Corporation (PSC) is a technology-enabled services company focused on state and local government public safety projects and programs. Hundreds of cities, counties, and other municipalities, ranging in population from 20,000 to nearly 4,000,000, across the United States and Canada use the company’s technologies and services to manage and bill alarm system fees, collect false alarm fines, recover public safety costs, and issue permits or licenses. PSC is headquartered in Waldorf, MD (www.publicsafetycorp.com).
The company’s main product is CryWolf which integrates with existing computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and automated records management (ARM) systems to automate false alarm processing and the collection of false alarm fees. In the United States, high numbers of alarm-related calls are diverting limited resources away from true emergencies. For example, 15 percent of all calls for law enforcement services nationwide are alarm related. Of those, over 90 percent are false alarms. This puts an extreme and unnecessary burden on local law enforcement and fire agencies.
By integrating CryWolf into existing CAD systems, municipalities can decrease response to false alarms and increase time spent on crime reduction and other essential services. For example, utilizing CryWolf, Los Angeles saw a decline in false-alarm response by almost 60 percent – from 102,532 in 2003 to 41,848 in 2011. Similarly, the city of Atlanta will recoup the equivalent of 8 to 12 full-time emergency responders by eliminating time wasted in responding to false alarms.
“Many local governments who use our solutions report that they have reduced emergency response to false alarms in half. This proven technology is already preventing tens of thousands of false alarms from consuming public resources across North America each year. When counted together, these valuable hours add up to time now better spent protecting and serving communities and conserving taxpayer dollars. It is exciting to be a part of Superion and bring this powerful technology to more local governments,” said Les Greenberg, CEO of PSC.
Superion, acquired by Vista through its sixth fund in February 2017, provides enterprise management software that is used by city and county governments, public safety and justice agencies, federal government and nonprofit agencies. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, FL (www.superion.com).
“For nearly two decades, Public Safety Corporation has delivered its proven CryWolf false alarm software solution to public agencies, commanding a 90 percent market share,” said Simon Angove, CEO of Superion. “We are thrilled to welcome Public Safety Corporation to the Superion family. The integration of their solutions with the Superion software platform will enable smarter emergency response and improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of responders and the communities they serve.”
Other products of PSC include Medallion which automates and simplifies the application, approval, and renewal process for permits, licenses and memberships; and Parking Citation and Payment Tracking which is used to streamline the task of processing citations and tracking payments.
Vista Equity Partners makes equity investments in software, data and technology-enabled companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has offices in San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago and Austin (www.vistaequitypartners.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | April 3, 2018
