Issue link: https://let.epubxp.com/i/423221
14 Law Enforcement Technology December 2014 www.officer.com STATE OF THE INDUSTRY The biggest issue we face, but I think it's one we face as a whole police body, is public image. Even though we have a great relationship with our community I see things out there that are so nega- tive about the police, even in situations where the police were correct, or maybe there was an officer that lost his life. Some of the comments you see are just horrific. I think it's definitely an image issue that we need to overcome. LET: What kinds of training or tech are you looking at for next year? Johnston: In our agency we train quite a bit on all different topics. For admin- istration we attend a lot of management courses. Our patrol division are attend- ing classes to better their patrol tech- niques on the road. In the last couple of years we have really increased our use of tech even more and we don't really have any- one that specifically is a sworn offi- cer who handles that (tech) aspect of our department; it's handled by IT and we have a 911 communica- tions supervisor. Next year our biggest project will be an upgrade to an encrypted radio system. We're looking to upgrade our radio system (to P25). LET: Is your department concerned with cybercrime? Johnston: There's always a fear our system could be breached, but I think that the safeguards they've put in place have been effective. But we have a lot of requirements…and mandated safeguards that we follow. LET: If you were given a blank check, what would you purchase for the department? Johnston: I'd update the entire computer system. But we're recently looking at body cams. We're very interested…but Illinois law has not been clear on their use. From what I understand there's something in the legislature right now that's looking at a bill; whether that comes to frui- tion or not, I don't know. But that's one of the things we'd like to see. As a police administrator I'm very interested in these because I think it does give an accurate depiction of what takes place. I want them to be used in a way where our officers, because this is who we need to buy into this, are comfortable. I couldn't tell you when we last had an exces- sive force complaint. But we've had other complaints where people come in and say an officer called VISIT PREDPOL.COM/LET TO REQUEST A FREE DEMO PROVEN RESULTS UNLIMITED SUPPORT World-class support and data customizations are included with every deployment, regardless of size. Each Department receives a dedicated support engineer ensuring 24/7 access to the most accurate crime predictions available. Communities using PredPol have a track record of reduced crime, from 22% in Norcross, GA, to 50% in Richmond, CA. Reductions continue for long-term deployments, like LAPD's Foothill division, reporting 20% crime reductions year over year. RAPID DEPLOYMENT Predictions use only place, time, and type of crime – updated daily from an agency's RMS – through a secure data pipe. With no new hires to make or new hardware to purchase, PredPol deployments take only weeks, and are accessed via any secure online browser. T H E F I E L D - T E S T E D P R E D I C T I V E P O L I C I N G INDUSTRY STANDARD IN It allows us to predict where that next crime is going to occur. It makes us smarter. It puts us on the cutting edge in what's going on in this country in crime fghting. " " ATLANTA PD CHIEF GEORGE TURNER WSB-TV 2 ATLANTA, SEPTEMBER 2013 Circle 8 on Reader Service Card