City Council approves new software for police
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on December 20, 2016 9:57 AM
The days of shuffling through paperwork and making multiple calls to track down case information could become a part of the past with the Goldsboro City Council's decision Monday to buy a $457,764 public safety software package.
The purchase is contingent on a decision by the Wayne County Board of Commissioners to purchase an estimated $1.5 million dispatch, records and jail management system program for the Sheriff's Office and Office of Emergency Services.
The commissioners are set to decide today on the computer hardware, which would link dispatch, law enforcement and emergency services into one communication system countywide, said Russell Andrus, field sales representative with Spillman Technologies.
Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West said the software would significantly reduce manhours by offering instantaneous access to records, photos, evidence data and analytics on multiple platforms, including smartphones, iPads and computers.
The police department will no longer need to shift through paper records during case reviews, calls to the county jail for mugshots will no longer be necessary and overall efficiency in the department will increase.
"It's going to advance us 10 years," West said. "It takes me from being very reactive to being proactive."
Andrus said the program will allow quick access to background information, even on a smartphone in the field.
"This will give officers instantaneous information on an individual to let them know whether they've assaulted officers, whether they carry a firearm, are known to (assault) police, any of that type of information," Andrus said. "An officer will have that before they even approach that individual."
The time it takes to process a case would be reduced by several days due to the technology, he said. The software will also provide live access to surveillance cameras, which the city plans to install in five high-crime areas within weeks.
West told the council that the police department's software will need an upgrade in a year. He also said if the county moves to a newer communication program, the city would be left behind without communication sharing capabilities.
"With our current situation at the department, if there's ever a time when we're going to do something that we haven't done before and kind of change up, now's the time to do it," West said. "This is the time to increase our efficiency, and I think the software is really going to help us get there."
Not only will the software link the police department to state and federal crime databases, the system will also connect all Wayne County municipalities and town police departments, Andrus said.
Councilman Gene Aycock asked why the county purchase includes the cost of software for other police departments and not Goldsboro.
"Why aren't they picking it up for us?" Aycock said. "We're part of the county. We're the same county residents as Mount Olive or Fremont."
Andrus said the municipalities have smaller police departments. He also said Wayne County would be paying the lion's share for the backbone of the network.
"The reason why is those other municipalities are one-man departments, five-man departments," Andrus said. "They're not 100-man departments.
"The nice thing is the county's actually picking up quite a bit of the tab for this. They're paying three times what the city is paying for this. That's because they're managing, maintaining the hardware and they're taking on a lot of that responsibility."
Councilman Antonio Williams asked if the city could afford the purchase. Kaye Scott, Goldsboro finance director, said some of the city's debt service will be paid down by the time the first payment is made on the software in July 2017.
The purchase agreement includes a five-year payment plan, financed through the Government Capital Corp. at a 2.99 percent interest rate. The purchase includes free software upgrades, training opportunities and an annual 15 percent maintenance fee.
During the council work session, Councilman David Ham provided company representatives with a list of more than 20 questions about the company, its financial stability, its training opportunities and what benefits are included in the purchase.
The software created by Spillman Technologies is used by 1,700 law enforcement agencies across the nation. In North Carolina, the technology is used in Randolph and Beaufort counties, Andrus said.
The council voted to purchase the software during its regular meeting Monday night.