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Important Considerations for Records Management Operations in Law Enforcement
Public
safety records management is at a cross-roads. Many agencies are still challenged with letting go of the past and moving into the future of information management. Many are still printing reports, filling out forms on paper and entering reports into RMS.
Many have maintained organizational structures within the records unit that prevent cross-functional collaboration. The bigger the agency the more common it is to split the division up into distinct units with specific roles, thereby increasing information silos and obstructions to operational efficiency. The more divided operations are, the more the big picture gets lost and it's the big picture that usually needs fixing.
What is your report turnaround time? Report error rate? Report correction procedure? These are functions which involve people outside of Records, requiring collaboration with patrol and investigations and within the unit itself. But, specialization through creation of UCR units, public records units, report review units, telephone reporting units, false alarm units and data entry units can create stovepipes where information travels vertical levels efficiently but does not disperse widely. Operations are divided into isolated functional roles instead of collaborative teams.
The future (today) of records management is largely driven by social change wherein community demands to see government information are higher than ever, resulting in increasing public records requests. Continuously evolving technology, a re-emergence of rising crime rates and the demands of accountability now placed on the police more than ever before all impact information management. All of these factors require adapting, change, looking at information management in new ways- something that is often a challenge in itself for records professionals who tend to be detail-oriented.
In the 1990's and into 2000's, RMS and CAD technology was a big focus in law enforcement. Inter-agency information sharing was the buzzword along with the desire to only have to enter information one time and have it shared across system modules and internal business units. Relational databases and XML became the norm. These remain standard today but, it is us humans that haven't adapted.
As RMS providers continue to develop new features, cloud computing becomes standard in policing, and the public demands more transparency, we must adapt. The ubiquity and role of IT across the value chain is erasing the boundaries between functional roles. Building cohesive and cross-functional operations to manage everything from public records and UCR to report review and expungements requires rethinking how you're doing business.
Do you still have a data entry unit when officers should be writing/entering their own reports? Or does your agency believe report entry is a "clerical" duty that shouldn't be placed on officers or that it's saving money that way?
Merry Christmas and may the good Lord make his face shine upon you and yours!
Ed
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