Record management systems (RMS) and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems are undergoing massive changes. Data from these systems are being collected; organized; and, ultimately, utilized in a number of new and better ways. Police work is made more effective and easier, experts say, when it can mine and make use of the data these systems can provide.
However, one size does not fit all, and needs can vary widely. Some RMS and CAD systems are ideal for large agencies, while others are tailor made for smaller departments.
One company helping to revolutionize the field is Mark43. Based in New York, Mark43 began when founders recognized that many RMS or CAD systems were operating with outdated technology. After spending thousands of hours with police officers in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the company founders had the knowledge they needed to reinvent the very concept of the RMS.
“What we saw is that the technology for RMS and CAD was completely outdated,” said Scott Crouch, Mark43’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We thought we’d redo it and build out a broad new type of RMS. It’s a faster and more reliable user interface, and it’s much easier to gather and extract the data.”1
The result was an easy-to-use digital pro-duct that expedited every aspect of records management. Accordingly, the results in efficiency are sweeping and unequivocal. Using the new RMS from Mark43, the MPD experienced a 50 percent reduction in arrest report writing time, an 80 percent reduction in incident or offense reporting time, and a whopping 238,000 hours in total officer time saved per year, according to company figures.
Those savings would not be possible without ease of use. That’s something Crouch said Mark43 worked hard to achieve from the early stages of the process—and it’s something not typically available in an RMS or a CAD.
“It’s a highly configurable system,” Crouch said. “It lets people make things how they want to make them. You can do everything from change the field you have to creating your own role for these values, so it automatically populates other fields if you put in a certain answer.”2
That mind-set extends to training, where Crouch and colleagues, working with MPD officers, made sure that training was seamless for the end user.
“We worked very closely with police to develop a training program,” Crouch said. “We trained 100 super users, and, then, they trained others. It took about three and a half hours per officer for training. So there’s not much of a concern about losing people on a shift. They have flexibility in how they set things up, and it takes them 15 minutes to [learn] a part of it instead of an hour.”3
Mark43 is just one of the companies providing cutting-edge technology upgrades for CAD and RMS systems. These evolutions are happening everywhere, and one company helping to push them is Esri, the well-known software company based in Redlands, California.
Connecting the Dots by Mapping Data
Long recognized as a trusted supplier of mapping using geographic information systems (GIS) software for a variety of sectors and purposes, Esri’s flagship product is ArcGIS. In a law enforcement context, ArcGIS creates maps and compiles and uses the resulting geographic information to help police understand more about where incidents are happening and identify patterns and trends based on those data.
“We started as a company using geography to solve landscaping problems,” said Mike King, global public safety manager for the Redlands, California, company. “GIS is the science of geography. True GIS is the ability to have not just dots on the map but analyzing whether or why one particular dot is related to another dot.”4
The key behind Esri’s GIS for Public Safety solution is the manner in which it can more quickly triage calls and designate first responders and their resources to a given area—while offering a high level of precision to the overall response.
“As a first responder, it becomes increasingly important: finding where it’s coming from, dispatch first responders, getting them to the right place,” King said. “The majority of calls that come in are from mobile devices. In those cases, the 911 call is tethered to the closest cellular tower to get information to the dispatch center. We know what tower it is, but we still need to verify the location. Once it’s verified, GIS says ‘OK, you’re in area one of a certain place, and area one has the following resources,’ Then you can assign the call to those resources.”5
The software also can incorporate information from other sources, in order to further tailor the response. This can include weather forecasts, traffic data, and other things, all designed to help responders make as informed a decision as possible. It is even possible to use the tool to help prevent the need for a response in the first place.
“The GIS might say that fire apparatus can’t take this road to get there because there’s a bridge along the way that’s too low. So the fire truck needs to be routed another way,” King said. “Now we’re looking at sensors, and other sources like weather feeds or traffic feeds or Waze [GPS driving app] or social media feeds. We can say there’s a rainstorm that’s coming that will result in an inch of rain in the city, and that might cause certain roadways to flood. We could start to say ‘here is the end result of what’s coming, so let’s put up barricades around these roads before the rain comes, instead of waiting for someone to drive into it.’”6
The newest technology Esri is rolling out is Z axis tracking. Those with a license to use Esri can now use this capability, and it could be a game changer for public safety.
“The [Federal Communications Commission] has authorized Z axis tracking, which means above terrain or below terrain,” King said. “So now instead of just saying here’s the location of the hotel, you can say the caller is 157 feet above the road surface. You can look vertically as well as horizontally.”7
New Technologies for Different Clients
Different CAD or RMS solutions appeal to different groups for different reasons. Crimestar, based in Santa Barbara, California, is one provider that puts forth an affordable solution that also harnesses current technology.
Crimestar bills itself as “a completely integrated, flexible, and powerful suite of information management tools for law enforcement and the public safety market.”8 There is one key distinction between Crimestar and other CAD vendors.
“We’re a little different because we offer a product instead of software,” said Eric Sargent, Crimestar’s sales manager. “It’s a self-enclosed CAD system, with the record management system being the heart and soul, with CAD as an add-on.”9
Sargent, a former police chief in New Hampshire, explained that Crimestar hardware is primarily designed for small and moderately sized agencies with a general size of 100–200 officers. However, larger agencies can add extra CAD modules if they wish.
Starting at $1,450 for an RMS or $3,950 for a CAD system, price is what helps set Crimestar apart, Sargent said. The system is also easy to use, especially considering the technical support the company provides.
“It’s the simplicity by which it can be installed, trained on, and learned, and the cost is always a factor,” Sargent said. “We generally try to do everything we can to teach and help the client get set up.”10
According to Sargent, the low price or the hardware-based nature of the solution doesn’t necessarily mean that customers have to sacrifice certain options—or the range of opportunities for customization—that customers of more elaborate solutions enjoy.
“Feature for feature, we compare very well,” Sargent said. “There is a drop-down menu with forced-choice options to help you build your tables. And it’s easy to operate. It’s just like reading a book—top to bottom, left to right.”11 ♦
Notes:
1Scott Crouch (co-founder and CEO, Mark43), telephone interview, October 20, 2017.
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4Mike King (global public safety manager, Esri), telephone interview, October 18, 2017.
5Ibid.
6Ibid.
7Ibid.
8Crimestar, “Law Enforcement Investigation & Records Management System.”
9Eric Sargent (sales manager, Crimestar), telephone interview, October 19, 2017.
10Ibid.
11Ibid.
Please cite as
Scott Harris, “RMS/CAD: Exploring Technology Brings the Future to the Present,” Product Feature, The Police Chief (December 2017): 64–66.
