Santa Clara County Grand Jury • 2004-2005

2004-2005 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report Problems Implementing the San Jose Police Computer Aided Dispatch

Published: June 15, 2005 20 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 7 findings

F1
The Project Manager of the SJPD CAD project did not have the skills, training or experience to manage such a large scale, technical project. The Project Manager had ancillary duties in addition to managing this large project.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
City of San Jose management should dedicate qualified Information Technology staff or consultants, who are subject matter experts, to collaborate in planning, procuring, and implementing mission-critical technologies. The job performance assessments of these individuals should reflect success or failure of assigned projects.
F2
SJPD personnel, highly trained and highly paid to provide law enforcement services, are assigned to IT positions within the department. Such a use of law enforcement personnel is inefficient and ineffective.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
City of San Jose management should assign a sufficient number of qualified, civilian personnel to specialized IT positions within the San Jose Police Department, freeing police officers to provide law enforcement service to the community. This practice ensures that highly technical IT tasks are being performed by qualified experts, and that law enforcement coverage is maximized.
F3
SJPD command staff and civilian management did not take a proactive and visible role in preparing City Communications Center personnel and police officers for the changes that took place with the IPS CAD system.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Command staff and top civilian management of the SJPD should assume a more proactive and visible role in program planning, development, and practice to assure participation, cooperation and two-way communication throughout the department. City management should establish a process whereby City department managers are held accountable for projects occurring within their area of responsibility. 15
F4
The City does not have a formalized process by which end-users, such as Public Safety Dispatchers, police officers and firefighters can provide suggestions and criticisms for improving CAD and MDC functions in an environment which values problem reports and improvement suggestions.
Related Recommendations (2)
R4A
City of San Jose and SJPD management should establish procedures by which end- users can be part of the solution process so that IT deficiencies can be quickly detected and adequately addressed.
R4B
In future IT project development, City of San Jose management should mandate that representatives from all levels affected by the IT project be included in every stage of specification, development and deployment.
F5
The mapping data and interface software were not verified for accuracy and operational status prior to being utilized for mission-critical functions within the SJPD.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Mapping data and related IT programs should be checked regularly for errors through a quality control program administered by qualified, trained personnel.
F6
Technical documentation on the operation, function, and design of the IPS CAD system has apparently not been provided by IPS to the City on a timely basis. This has impeded IT personnel in troubleshooting and rectifying problems raised by PSDs and police officers, because of the long turnaround times in getting questions answered through IPS.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
City of San Jose management should obtain CAD system design, implementation, and operations documentation from IPS sufficient to give IT staff the ability to support, maintain, and ensure the operational functionality of the IPS CAD system. 16
F7
The electronic mobile mapping system is unreliable and printed copies of beat maps previously provided to SJPD police officers have been discontinued. Such maps are also needed in case of a serious system problem or failure.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
SJPD should immediately reinstate the production of printed beat maps and provide them to police officers for their use in the field. PASSED and ADOPTED by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury on this 26th day of May, 2005. ________________________________ Michael A. Smith Foreperson 17

Conclusions 29

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

San Jose City