Technology not only helps law enforcement agencies solve complex problems, but can also provide tools to save time and better allocate resources. Online reporting solutions can be beneficial for both the agencies, and for residents as well.
This article appeared in the September/October issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.
Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff Chad Chronister recently answered some questions about how the agency uses LexisNexis Coplogic Solutions’ Desk Officer Reporting System (DORS) to obtain accurate and timely reports from the public.
How do software solutions like DORS help free up deputies?
Our Online Reporting Unit averages over 1,400 reports and street checks a month, saving our agency over 2,000 manhours a month. This allows us to prioritize assets to address more pressing needs in our communities and saving our taxpayers almost a million dollars a year.
How has DORS helped the HCSO improve response times?
When crimes occur to our citizens, fast response times are critical. Even minor crimes, people want instant feedback and DORS allows citizens to bypass wait times and instantly file reports and get a case number and in many cases, the report is assigned to a detective for a follow-up.
DORS allows citizens to file a report. How has this approach boosted community service in Hillsborough County?
We use our phones for so many things, and anytime you give citizens the ability to quickly report crimes and interact with us, it enhances community interaction and allows us yet another way to serve our community.
With DORS being available 24/7, how are submitted reports reviewed and responded to?
Our office has a dedicated online reporting team that specializes in reviewing, approving and routing these reports. If a report is lacking information, our online team assigns the citizen a follow-up. Once these reports are approved, they go into our RMS system just like any other report.
What is the importance of being able to offer a citizen online reporting system in additional languages?
Approximately 30 percent of the citizens we serve speak Spanish and our online reporting unit gives our Spanish-speaking citizens the ability to interact with our agency and establish a dialog reassuring them that their voice and needs matter to us.
What kind of training has been required to make deputies and staff familiar with the solution?
Upon implementation, we educated our staff with the functionality and workflow of how online reporting works and anytime we implement a new online reporting type, we notify our deputies and communication center so they know what all we can and can’t take with online reporting.
What are some success stories that the HCSO seen using DORS?
Not only is DORS used by citizens to file police reports, but when our deputies work large events such as Raymond James Stadium, Gasparilla or concerts, we use a secure function of DORS to issue an ejection or trespass notice right from our issued cellphones. This allows our deputies to remain mobile and not have to leave their checkpoints.
What would you say to other law enforcement leaders who may be hesitant to implement an online reporting solution for their agency?
The good news is, online reporting doesn’t replace community interaction. It enhances community interaction by giving citizens another way to report crimes and engage with our programs. Citizens today not only appreciate technology like this, but they also expect it, and our crime numbers have fallen consistently over the past several years. Online reporting doesn’t create crime, it’s just an easier way for citizens to report it.
