The police department has access to a large amount of data. But this alone will not guarantee the safety of the public, as well as prevent crimes from happening in the community. While many agencies have embraced the use of technology, if the police chief, officers, and command staff do not know how to use these data to make individual decisions in the field and develop strategic priorities, then there’s no use keeping those data at all. Hence, it is important to know how to leverage data and have an effective community policing.
5 Ways to Leverage Data to Improve Performance of Police Agency
Effective use of data available is essential in improving operations in the police department. Do note that there is a thin line separating the adoption of technological advancements and integrating data tools for analysis and conclusion. The lack of understanding of how to properly use data gathered as assets can either result in failure or reoccurrence of crimes in the community.
So, what are the specific ways to leverage data in Officer Survey to improve the performance of the police department? How can it help in making intelligent decisions, improve the relationship with the community members, correct problematic behaviors, as well as provide incentives and training to officers in the community?
1. Create surveys that are realistic to the needs of the community.
Ready-made surveys are great. However, sometimes, these won’t directly hit the target questions that the police department would want to answer. Hence, the waste of time of both law enforcers and community members.
With Officer Survey, police officers can utilize the software to create surveys that are true to the needs of the community and would answer other impending concerns.
2. Compare citizen feedback and police officer insights.
As feedbacks are no longer limited to the community members, statements of both parties can now be easily traced and doublechecked. Gathered statements can be utilized in identifying where the problem occurred during the operation or what prompted the issue to escalate between the police and citizens involved.
3. Build a more transparent relationship with the community.
Given that the citizens can utilize the Officer Survey to give feedback, the police department can ensure transparency with the community by immediately addressing the concerns raised. Once the citizens see that their concerns are attended to (not necessarily solved instantly as some cases really do take time) this gives them the confidence that the police are seriously doing their task to serve the people; hence slowly building the trust needed to employ effective community policing.
4. Analyze and see the immediate concerns of the neighborhood.
Since Officer Survey can immediately provide an analysis of the data provided by the neighborhood, the police department can utilize this in identifying the urgent concerns of the community. Community concerns should be addressed based on how urgent and important it is, and should not be based on power and personal interest.
5. Use real-time results to resolve urgent complaints in the community.
Do not wait for the citizens to raise their concerns on social media. Maximize the use of Officer Survey to know the immediate concerns of the community and use real-time results to solve the problems that the people are experiencing.
Also, it is now easier to track the police officers who are doing well in their field of work and those who need further training. Most importantly, this serves as a real-time evaluation of how the department is actually performing – the measurement of the effectiveness of the presence of the law enforcers in the community.
