Sterling Heights Police Department has become the first department in Macomb County, Mich. to launch a “transparency dashboard” through Tyler Technologies, a leader in integrated software and technology services to the public sector.
The dashboard is accessible under the police department section of the City’s website at sterling-heights.net and will allow the public to quickly and conveniently view up-to-date information regarding the department’s interaction with the community on items like calls for service, citations issued, arrests made, use of force or complaints.
“Our fundamental philosophy is that transparency is vital to building and maintaining a strong partnership with our community,” said Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski. “And we know from experience that maintaining our rank as the safest big city in Michigan is all about the collaborative effort between our officers and our residents and businesses. This dashboard will simply continue to enhance the bond of trust between our community and our department.”
The transparency dashboard will also serve to assist Sterling Heights police officers by allowing them to internally track issues and resident concerns as well as streamline department processes such as use of force forms, chase reports, injured officers and more. The database that feeds the dashboard has allowed these forms and reports to become digital and has allowed for a work flow to be created for each, rendering the processes completely paperless.
“Dashboard information is refreshed every five minutes, giving visitors the most up-to-date information possible,” said Chief Dwojakowski. “As we see how this program develops, the plan is to add even more categories and information, making our department as open and accessible to the public as we can be.”
The dashboard is made possible through Arx software, a part of Tyler Technologies. The police department was able to remove software modules they weren’t currently using to make room for the transparency dashboard, so there is no increased cost to our residents for this program.
Original source can be found here.
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