Score: +8
(8/0/0)
Ventura County Grand Jury
• 2002-2003
Police Information Systems within Ventura County
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 11 findings
F1
RMS and CAD within the County represent a heterogeneous mix of technology. The complexity, variety of technical features and organizational interfaces make it difficult to compare systems directly. (See Table 1)
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Considering the technical issues associated with modern policing, we recommend that the Sheriff and Police Chiefs support the establishment of two standing technical working groups. One group formed to consider data systems and a second group for communications. The objective of these working groups would be to address issues of technical standardization, coordination, identify improvement in capability through new technology and lowering costs. They would provide a resource for recommendations on investment in technical capability and provide a “Lessons Learned” resource from a technical point of view. These groups would be supported by the County Information System Department. (C-1, C-2)
F2
Some RMS and CAD systems within the County are very advanced (e.g., Ventura and Simi Valley). Some are not. The Sheriff maintains RMS and CAD support to the five cities with which he has a contract to provide police services. These cities are Ojai, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Fillmore.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Due to their size and budgetary constraints the smaller cities have relatively less sophisticated systems.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Some RMS and CAD systems are designed to work together and minimize redundant information entry. Other RMS/CAD systems are stand-alone and may not share data easily, if at all.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Considering the technical issues associated with modern policing, we recommend that the Sheriff and Police Chiefs support the establishment of two standing technical working groups. One group formed to consider data systems and a second group for communications. The objective of these working groups would be to address issues of technical standardization, coordination, identify improvement in capability through new technology and lowering costs. They would provide a resource for recommendations on investment in technical capability and provide a “Lessons Learned” resource from a technical point of view. These groups would be supported by the County Information System Department. (C-1, C-2)
F5
Some CAD systems have a Global Positioning System (GPS) capability. This capability exists in a number of systems but is not activated. (See Table 2.)
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Sheriff and Police Chiefs together evaluate, on a Countywide basis, the advantages and organizational, personnel and technical issues in deploying the GPS technology which already exists. (C-5)
F6
There have been significant recent investments by larger police agencies in communications and information technology. (See Table 3.)
No recommendations for this finding
F7
The newer CAD/RMS systems provide a significant capability to improve police responsiveness.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
The VCJIS provides a successful model for technical cooperation among justice agencies throughout the County.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The networked nature of the VCJIS provides a technical basis for developing a data warehouse of shared public safety information across the County. 2
Related Recommendations (3)
R1
The Sheriff and Police Chiefs charter a working group composed of crime analysts, sworn officers (from gang and street crime task forces) and technical specialists to identify the conceptual design of a data warehouse for Countywide police information. (C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4)
R2
The County Information Technology Department should provide technical support to the working group to evaluate the cost and technical characteristics of such a data warehouse. (C-4)
R3
The Sheriff and Police Chiefs evaluate this conceptual design and if appropriate: A Pursue a federal grant to expand the Ventura County Integrated Justice System to include a data warehouse to also contain City RMS and CAD data. (C-3) B. Make as part of the grant the acquisition of two integrated RMS/CAD systems for small departments that would be compatible with the data warehouse. These systems would replace the current CAD and RMS systems operational in Port Hueneme and Santa Paula. (C-3)
F10
Criminal activities do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. In response to this fact, public safety agencies have established multi agency task forces to respond to specific issues such as illegal drug sales and criminal gangs. F11. Crime analysts and working officers have had to depend on informal contacts to access requisite information in multiple jurisdictions in order to develop a County wide view of specific criminal activities. Conclusions C-1. In Ventura County, cross-jurisdictional information on criminal activities is difficult to gather and evaluate due to the variety of computer and software systems used to store police information. (F-1, F-2, F-3, F-4, F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8, F- 9, F-10, F-11) C-2. Dispatch systems are central to any police agency. Considering this centrality, jurisdictional issues and recent investments it is not feasible to pursue a common system across the County at this time. (F-2, F-6, F-7) C-3. In order to share data across the County a networked data warehouse may be the best alternative in dealing with these disparate information systems. (F-9) C-4. In order to address information sharing across the County it is necessary to involve both Public Safety personnel as well as specialists in information and communication systems. (F-1, F-2, F-9) C-5. GPS tracking technology is available but not completely utilized. (F-5) Recommendations
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Crime analysts and working officers have had to depend on informal contacts to access requisite information in multiple jurisdictions in order to develop a County wide view of specific criminal activities. Conclusions C-1. In Ventura County, cross-jurisdictional information on criminal activities is difficult to gather and evaluate due to the variety of computer and software systems used to store police information. (F-1, F-2, F-3, F-4, F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8, F- 9, F-10, F-11) C-2. Dispatch systems are central to any police agency. Considering this centrality, jurisdictional issues and recent investments it is not feasible to pursue a common system across the County at this time. (F-2, F-6, F-7) C-3. In order to share data across the County a networked data warehouse may be the best alternative in dealing with these disparate information systems. (F-9) C-4. In order to address information sharing across the County it is necessary to involve both Public Safety personnel as well as specialists in information and communication systems. (F-1, F-2, F-9) C-5. GPS tracking technology is available but not completely utilized. (F-5)
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 3C-1. In Ventura County, cross-jurisdictional information on criminal activities is difficult to gather and evaluate due to the variety of computer and software systems used to store police information. (F-1, F-2, F-3, F-4, F-5, F-6, F-7, F-8, F- 9, F-10, F-11) C-2. Dispatch systems are central to any police agency. Considering this centrality, jurisdictional issues and recent investments it is not feasible to pursue a common system across the County at this time. (F-2, F-6, F-7) C-3. In order to share data across the County a networked data warehouse may be the best alternative in dealing with these disparate information systems. (F-9) C-4. In order to address information sharing across the County it is necessary to involve both Public Safety personnel as well as specialists in information and communication systems. (F-1, F-2, F-9) C-5. GPS tracking technology is available but not completely utilized. (F-5)
Commendations 1
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CM1 Page 4The Grand Jury commends the Sheriff, District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation Officer and the Court Executive Officer for their enlightened cooperation in the development and support of Ventura County Integrated Justice System. The Grand Jury commends the crime analysts and working officers who have developed informal working relationships in sister agencies in order to make up for the lack of an integrated view of criminal activities across Ventura County.
Agency Responses 5
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
No Responses Found 4
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.