New RMS streamlines local law enforcement’s info-sharing

Greenwood’s area law enforcement agencies are better connected than ever, with a new records management system giving every department access to each other’s records.

In the past week, the Ninety Six and Ware Shoals police departments, along with Greenwood police and the county sheriff’s office, have transitioned to a new records system run by Caliber Public Safety. The contract with Caliber was part of the Capital Project Sales Tax, and Greenwood County Council approved contracting with Caliber for a shared, countywide records system.

The biggest change comes with access — officers in each department will now have ready access to the reports filed by other agencies on the same system.

Ninety Six Police Chief Chris Porter said before Caliber, they’d have to call officers at other departments if they had questions about a mutual suspect or an investigation. Officers would also pass messages by using their radios to call in to dispatchers, but there’s room for error and confusion when passing messages along through multiple people, Porter said.

“A lot of times you can’t hear on those radios because you might be in a house or in a bad spot for signal,” he said. “But with this system, when someone sends out data on a call you can see it right away, exactly where they are.”

This system allows officers to pin locations to their reports, mapping out crimes they’re investigating. That data can be used later on to map trends in various types of crime, and officers from each department can cross-reference with information submitted by other agencies.

“Ware Shoals might get out with a person of interest we’ve been investigating,” Porter said. “We can immediately get in contact with them. I think it’s going to be a tremendous benefit, and I think it will help all of us make cases quicker and solve crimes a little bit better.”

It will take some getting used to, Ware Shoals Police Chief Bryan Louis said. His department is still transitioning away from their prior management software — the contract ends in December, and he said they might have to continue the contract if they can’t get data transferred over in time.

The town’s court system still uses the old software, and Louis said they need to find a court management system that will work with Caliber’s software.

“When we’re fully operational, we’ll be able to use our in-car computers along with scanners and printers provided by the sheriff’s office,” Louis said. “It will let us spend way more time in cars rather than having to come back to the station to file reports.”

There’s a learning curve, Greenwood Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin said, but once everyone is up to speed Caliber will allow them to easily see trends and clusters of crime that were hard to see before.

“Whereas with the last system you had to go through every report and piece it together through those,” he said.

The police department is ironing out a few issues with routing certain reports to the necessary supervisors to make sure they are reviewed and approved correctly. Otherwise, though, Chaudoin said the transition has been going smoothly.

Patrol officers seem to be loving the system, Ninety Six police Maj. Deidra Collier said. Caliber kept staff around for days last week to help train and educate officers on the new system.

“The biggest benefit to us absolutely is being connected to the county, Ware Shoals and Greenwood city,” she said. “We can help as needed now, and see their info just like they see it.”

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Nov 11, 2021

By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/new-rms-streamlines-local-law-enforcements-info-sharing/article_835d0742-f739-5cf4-989d-93576c4bf14e.html