Law Enforcement Software to Recruit, Train, and Retain Officers

A North Texas Police Department is using a new texting service to better connect with the community. The technology gives people who call nine eleven real time updates on the police response. And as our Caroline Vandergriff explains, the program is also boosting morale at the Lake Worth Police Department. The city of Lake Worth has about six thousand residents, but four hundred thousand people drive through here every day. That means police respond to plenty of car accidents. Events like a crash are very chaotic. Thanks to a new system. Once that nine eleven call comes in, the driver gets a text with an update on the officers ETA. Your call's not lost on us and and once you hang up, you know it's not ignored. Chief JT Monashagen says the software then texts with a follow-up once the officer leaves the scene. We appreciate you calling in about whatever that incident is. Would you provide us with some feedback? The chief says it's those survey results that have been transformative for the department. Out of twelve hundred community responses, ninety seven percent say they're satisfied or very satisfied with police response. So recruitment and retention is one of the main issues facing law enforcement right now. And part of that is because there's this idea that you're not supported. You're not appreciated. That's just not true. This tool provides us with the data and and the actual citizen feedback to give to our officers to counteract that negative narrative that's out there. You can scroll through hundreds of positive comments in the database, including this one calling an interaction with one officer, the best I've ever had with any police officer in my entire fifty seven years. It definitely, you know, put a smile on my face. I don't do it for the pat on the back, but hearing it every now and then in this in this day and age is definitely a great thing. Officer Chelsea Lockridge says the power engage program has improved morale on the force. It's always good to feel like you've made somebody happy out there. Improving relationships with police, one text at a time. In Lake Worth, Caroline Vandergriff, CBS News Texas.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month and local Police Department is taking new steps to support their own. Tifferdon police have launched a mobile well-being app so that officers struggling with their mental health can have resources at their fingertips. Twelve news reporter Amanda Pitts spoke to Tiverton police tonight and joins us with more about that app. Amanda. The app is called power line and any Tiverton police officer can access it on their phone. It's all anonymous and aims to give officers an outlet and resources for their struggles. It's there for them to utilize it if they need it. The Tiburton Police Department is offering its officers round the clock help for mental health issues. If like there's any kind of, you know, stressors that are affecting them in their personal life, their work life, they have the ability to access it. It is this app, PowerLine, a resource built for law enforcement officers as suicide rates increase. For whatever reason, the law enforcement profession has been really affected by nationwide, you know, by suicide. Lieutenant John Leduc walked us through the app that keeps the officer's identity confidential. Entering an honest mode. Hit it again. And then what's on your mind? And it could be overall wellness. I'm stressed. I'm angry. The resources provided depends on the answer. Well, how upset are you? If the app's assessment or library of articles doesn't help, there's also a nationwide network of volunteers made up of others in the law enforcement field, someone to talk to who gets it. So there's actually eighteen participants that are logged on to this one for stress, and there's another one with 17for well-being. And while it doesn't identify the officers who use it, leaders in the department can see how often it's used and which topics have the most engagement. Tiverton hopes that by offering this service, those in their ranks who are struggling will get the help they need before it's too late. It's one of those conversations, especially in this career, you know, career profession that it's not necessarily talked about often, but it should be. Now this app isn't just for Tiverton Police Department to use any police department that opts in can use it. The app was launched in August of last year. In Tiverton, I'm Amanda Pitts, twelve news.

With coverage you can count on, this is channel three eyewitness news live at five. Well, public safety agencies nationwide are ditching the paperwork and going online. It has saved one police department nearly twenty thousand dollars alone. Channel three eyewitness news reporter Michelle Heron shows us how they're doing it. More and more companies are going digital, moving away from paper, and bringing technology to an employee's fingertips. Well, here at the Cleveland Police Department, they're saving money and increasing accountability among officers. Transporting procedures, the use of bathrooms. Instead of memorizing or carrying around a giant policy manual, police in Cleveland have it all in one app. One new policy explains how to interact with the transgender community. And then also using the pronoun that they wish to go by. So if it's a he and she wants to be called a she, then that's how we're to address them. This app transporting procedures, the use of bathrooms. Makes it easy for officers to double check procedure. Cleveland joins Chattanooga, Collegedale, and Signal Mountain Police when using the software called PowerDMS. What do I do in a DUI case or how do I handle a domestic violence case and the protocol? What do I do if I find a child that I can't find their parents? This is the protocol. This is what you need to do. And that reduces liability on the police department, but it also reduces it on the individual as well. An email notifies officers of a department wide change or new procedure. Then they're required to sign off, acknowledging they read it. Before using PowerDMS, officers were given binders like these, every procedure printed on paper. We also take tests on there as well, certifications, any courses that we might have. This software has already saved the department nineteen thousand dollars in paper alone. It's not just law enforcement that uses power DMS. There are other industries as well. I have more information about that software posted on WRCB TV dot com. Reporting in Cleveland, I'm Michelle Herron, Channel three, Eyewitness News.

The Boulder Police Department launching a brand new texting service today trying to connect you with the department. They're calling it power engaged, right? So Jim Hooley live at Boulder Police headquarters this morning. So when can we expect a text from police? Well, know more and more, but more and more departments here in the Denver area all around the country using texting now as a way to to connect with people. It's like when you you call your doctor's officers, you call the phone company and then they say you send you text back saying, how did we do? That's exactly what's gonna be happening up here in Boulder. This is what it's all about here, and this is what the new service is all about. The new texting service is gonna work in a couple different ways. First off, the service will provide important information to anybody who calls nine one one. For instance, if you're in a a minor crash and you call for help, you might get a text saying, police are on the way. Stay off the road and other information that you need at the scene at that time. And secondly, anyone who calls nine one one will get a follow-up text and that text will come within six hours. It will ask how satisfied you were with the call for service and the response that you got from the officers at the scene when you had some problems. Boulder police say, this new service alliance with our departments reimagine what they call the reimagined policing plan and their continued commitment to transparency and what they say is respect. And speaking speaking of respect, they will respect your sleep as well. They will not text you. They promise between the hours of nine o'clock at night and eight o'clock in the morning. That's good news. That's power engaged up. The news service starting here today at Boulder PD when you call nine eleven live up in Boulder. I'm Jim Hooey, Dave Raykounty. Alright.