When San Leandro Information Services Manager Rayan Fowler was notified that the city’s current software vendor would no longer be supporting their legacy Computer Aided Dispatch and Law Enforcement Records systems, the agency was faced with an all too familiar challenge. But they took that challenge and turned it into an opportunity to fully identify the city’s needs and look for a software provider that could meet all their requirements and would be a true life long partner.
“We documented all the internal processes for the police department,” said Fowler. “New World was willing to look at those key processes and correlate them with the software.”
After a complete RFP process, product demonstrations and on-site visits to current customers, New World was selected.
“New World is privately owned and has never been sold, they have excellent functionality, complete integration of systems and a positive reputation for support,” said Fowler. “Those aspects were all very important for San Leandro’s selection.”
Tailored Support
San Leandro has been live on Corrections for more than two years and a year and a half for CAD, Records and Mobile. It took one month of consistent training to get the departments running.
“Training is an extremely important part of the software solution and New World was very accommodating,” said Fowler. “It’s difficult with multiple shifts and we needed to make sure we weren’t pulling everyone off their shift at the same time. New World was very flexible.”
In addition to the flexibility of training schedules, the team implemented a “train the trainers” approach so everyone had exposure to the knowledge and experience they needed.
Process Improvements
The city needed complete integration in their public safety software system, the ability to pull data out of the system and better information tracking for crime prevention. They were also looking for the latest technology in GIS mapping integration.
“It is important the software meets our needs now and into the future,” said Fowler. “We need software that will grow with us and that was found at New World.”
Because the city is ultimately collecting more information, entering data into the system is more resource intensive. But that extra time spent is worth it because of the quality of information they are able to get out of the system.
“We get more information today than we used to,” said Fowler. “The data is cleaner with less duplication and more availability for the department.”
Fowler said department heads do not have to track down files or reports, they are readily available directly through the system. There were also other opportunities the new system presented.
“We went full force on the implementation,” said Fowler, “including scanning and getting rid of all paper files.”
The department is also better able to provide statistics to the community. In the future, they will be able to report statistics online.
“We’re looking forward to being able to implement and provide a high level of crime statistics over the web,” said Fowler. “Citizens will be able to get a report and not have to waste time coming into the police department.”
True Partnership
Another piece of the city’s success is the valued partnership they have with New World Systems.
“The partnership is very important and a big part of the reason we are so successful,” said Fowler. “New World Systems bases their success on the success of their customers, giving great support in a true partnership.”
Working in the information technology department, Fowler serves the whole city, not just the police department. She sees a lot of software companies and other vendors.
“That support doesn’t happen with a lot of software companies,” she said. “We don’t get the response from any other company that we get from New World Systems.”
