When you see or hear the word “hack,” what normally comes to mind is a criminal trying to pry into technology, possibly your own, and stealing something.  There is a big Hackathon this weekend in Fishers, but there is nothing criminal about it.  In fact, this Hackathon is focused on helping law enforcement.

This Hackathon being held in Fishers is the state’s largest, with some of the best minds in  Indiana technology and other experts, competing for awards and prizes presented at the  Saturday evening wrap-up of the event.  They will be working for 24 hours, beginning Friday evening , ending at 8pm Saturday.

Indiana AT&T President Bill Soards touted his company’s work on First Net, a high-tech way for public safety agencies to talk with one another even during the most difficult circumstances.  Soards says he believes First Net will help drive innovation and security for first responders nation-wide.

Ed Davis is part of this Hackathon, and has had high-level police experience in many major cities across the nation. But he talked mostly about being the Boston Police Chief when the Boston Marathon bombing happened.  Davis says the cell phone service in the area around the bombing shut down, and  his officers had to rely on their push-to-talk radios.

“This is unacceptable in our society,” Davis says. ” We have to have redundant systems.  We have to provide these police officers not only with communications but with data.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness told the gathered news media that public safety in places like Fishers must evolve.  “We have to have the courage to look to the technological evolution that’s occurring all around us to be able to adapt,” Mayor Fadness said.

Teams participating in this Hackathon will be vying for $15,000 in total prized.  But the biggest aim of the event is to provide more and better solutions for our public safety agencies.