With the city budget in the red, police are finding every way
they can to save money and keep officers on the street. Hello,
Internet!
With the city budget in the red, police are finding every way they can to save money and keep officers on the street. Hello, Internet!
By October, residents will be able to file routine police reports online from the comfort of their homes or at a computer kiosk at the police department, 7301 Hanna St. Rather than calling officers to their residences or finding a ride or bus to the police station and then waiting 30 minutes to an hour for an officer to return from patrol, Gilroyans will be able to log online to report lesser crimes ranging from stolen bikes to vandalism, harassment to fraud, and vehicle break-ins to lost property.
More serious crimes involving witnesses, violence and evidence will still require face-to-face time with officers, but police hope the bulk of more minor reports, which now require officers’ physical attention, will come through online instead.
“Not all reports need a car to respond, so we’re looking at whether we need to send a car or take phone report or Web-based report. How can we do something different because we have very limited resources,” Gilroy Police Chief Denise Turner said in reference to the city’s $3.9 million deficit, which has delayed the hiring of more police officers and community service officers. Both respond to reports, but sworn officers typically take most of the calls because they require follow-up investigations; CSOs mostly deal with petty crime reports involving no suspects or evidence, such as a stolen bicycle reports or a series of harassing phone calls.
Harnessing the Internet will free up officers who otherwise have to burn gas leaving their patrols, spend time interviewing the reporting party and then must fill out a report on paper before returning to the field.
“With increased population and calls, it’s becoming more difficult to meet the community’s needs, so we’re looking for innovative ways to assist with that. It’s more convenient for a community member to log on at work, on vacation or anywhere else, to file their report,” Sgt. Jim Gillio said, adding the caveat that incidents must have taken place in Gilroy without suspects or evidence.
“Pretty much every where in the state does this,” Gillio said. “It’s becoming a standard in our industry.”
The San Jose and Hollister police departments already use Internet reporting, and the Morgan Hill Police Department has been accepting reports online for the past two years. Although few residents actually come in to use the lobby’s kiosk, rank-and-file officers love the online arrangement, MHPD Sgt. Bill Norman said.
“Instead of victims of crimes waiting for officer for 30 minutes or several hours, this program was developed,” Norman said. “It’s not as detailed, but it’s pretty darn close … It frees us up to pursue more active police work. We like to go for bigger fish.”
For the kiosks, the city will recycle tired computers that can no longer handle necessary office tasks such as running Microsoft Word. But the software for the new reporting system, Coplogic, costs about $25,000, according to the city’s IT Director, David Chulick. This money pays for the integration of Coplogic’s electronic reports into the department’s records system after a sergeant reviews and approves them, according to Chulick. Officials said they expect the fresh expense to counter the cost of officers having to take reports instead of policing.
“We’re in a budget crisis. The computers we’ll use are older computers. Just a mouse and keyboard with a monitor behind a window,” Chulick said. “You could go to the library, or be anywhere in the world, and submit a report. But police don’t accept them until they check the reports. You know, there could be some young kid out there who thinks its cool to submit 600 reports or something.”
Sgt. Gillio added, “This will increase our pro-active time for officers who are out there doing parole checks and other things.” Along with the Internet reporting, Chief Turner said the department will revive its phone-based reporting system. Public phones and library computers will ensure that everyone has easy access, department officials said.
After filing an online police report, residents – who must provide their name, address, phone number and date of birth – will receive a case number and be able to print a copy of the report for their records.
“That’s something that most people dealing with their insurance providers like to have,” Norman said.
