Police chiefs regularly face daunting challenges. Many departments suffer from overworked staff, the possibility of reduced resources, uncertain futures, and the list goes on. While there’s no magic wand to make all these challenges disappear, having accurate, unified, and usable data is the starting point to understanding and effectively addressing common challenges.
The reports police chiefs need
If preparation is the best offense, a major benefit is the ability to run reports combining reliable, up-to-date records with adaptable, easy-to-use analytic tools. The reports, for example, allow chiefs and supervisors to understand unit location, job demands, performance, and the necessary steps to ensure their officers are mentally healthy and not overworked.
Here are some of the reports chiefs should be reviewing:
- Calls for service: Chiefs need to know, at a moment’s notice, where and when calls are coming in, available capacity, and how those trends change over time.
- Cases by clearance type: Chiefs must be able to assess a lead investigator’s clearance rates for different types of cases and compare them agencywide.
- Incidents: These reports allow chiefs to see where incidents occur, incident type, the reporting officer, date/time, post/beat, and more.
- Officer activity: As an extension of an incident report, chiefs can see which activities specific officers are taking at any given time. This allows them to seek correlations between the reports.
- Monthly arrest: Arrest numbers are an important component of an agency’s activity, and this report allows chiefs to digest arrest trends by charge across neighborhoods, officers, and more.
- Use of force: In our political climate, it is essential for chiefs to understand when and where use-of-force incidents are occurring. Like monthly arrest numbers, these allow for trend lines across designated time periods.
By utilizing these reports and others, chiefs can tackle a number of pressing issues and be proactive regarding future challenges. When preparedness is key, proper reports make all the difference. Data about incidents, calls for service, and how officers respond provides chiefs with valuable insights on what resources are needed. The combination of robust operational records and analytics is also essential for transparency, building awareness, and engaging the public, politicians, and media in evidence-based discussion on the future direction of this vital public service.
Next steps
For more information on how our records management, mobile, and analytics software can help your agency improve visibility, performance, productivity, and staff well-being, visit the HxGN OnCall Records page.
