When you look at the world of law enforcement technology today, it essentially falls into three specific buckets or categories. First, you have the hardware world, which we all know is very critical. These consist of products like sirens, radios, breathalyzers — things that police need to do their job every day. Second, there are record management systems (RMS) and other like-systems that help catalog, track and manage criminal incidents and follow-up on investigations. This is very highly evolved software in what is a highly competitive landscape. Third, we have the world of human capital management . . . and this is the part of law enforcement technology that has not been properly addressed.
The human capital management marketplace today is full of good providers who are trying to do one thing: It could be that they’re trying to capture use-of-force . . . or they’re trying to oversee internal affairs case management . . . or they’re trying to administer training. You name it — whatever it is, they’re only trying to solve a singular challenge or issue. This fragmentation across multiple providers becomes increasingly problematic when you realize that police departments, like any other organization, need as holistic and turnkey perspective as possible for making informed decisions and developing course-corrective action plans to meet professional standards criteria.
So, what’s the ideal tactic? Consider an enterprise approach to your police force management and early intervention strategy, where one system can manage all of your human management needs. And when you do, ask the tough questions that will get you to the most effective solution for your department. Does it comply with the body of standards proposed by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)? Does it incorporate the best practices and elements of the ethics toolkit developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)? What about the performance guidelines on officer conduct recommended by the Department of Justice (DOJ)? A true enterprise system built specifically for police professional standards and early intervention will meet these criteria and much more.
Bottom line — try to avoid the complexities of working with multiple software providers. Streamline your processes and workflows, increase your overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness, and achieve total agency compliance — all through one single-source enterprise management tool.