CRESTVIEW — Crestview Police Chief Tony Taylor says he has the solution for replacing the department's outdated computer system.
But first, he will need some tax dollars to pay for it.
Taylor said he and Officer Len Steinmeier, the CPD's systems administrator, evaluated several systems used by area and regional law enforcement agencies before settling on the one he is requesting from the 2015-16 budget.
"SunGard Public Sector is the only company we met with that exceeded our expectations," Taylor said. "They are the only company sitting on the technological edge."
Taylor described the $880,000 system as being" built by law enforcement for law enforcement," and noted the Fort Walton Beach Police Department uses it "and they like it."
Steinmeier said the current failing system — bought in 2002 "with no thought to upgrades" — is incompatible with the rigorous reporting now required by state and federal mandate.
The current system's limitations were revealed during the 2015 mayoral campaign, when the city's reported crime statistics became an issue but turned out to be erroneously reported to state and federal agencies.
"When we started looking closer at the data, we realized the system was not updating properly," Steinmeier said.
Council President Shannon Hayes said he looked into the concern and agreed. "I looked at some of the crime reports and saw the same address had the same crime reported seven or eight times," Hayes said. "The system reflects bad on us as a city."
Taylor said correcting system-generated errors required "hundreds of man-hours" of officer time.
SunGard representatives Joe Beasley and Al Battles, a former police officer in North Carolina, demonstrated their company's software — which integrates a police headquarters' central server with dispatch and patrol computers — during an Aug. 20 City Council budget workshop.
Battles said the proposed system allows officers to simply speak commands to the computer; this means they don't have to take their eyes off the road or from a crime scene to manually enter data or information requests.
The system's cost, which would be spread over six years, includes loading Crestview and Florida-specific data, including city and regional maps, and can accommodate Google Maps and weather radar.
Crestview police can upload floor plans of buildings such as schools and commercial properties, as well as residences that are repeat crime scenes, such as meth labs.
When an officer files an incident report, the proposed system complies with Florida Uniform Crime Reports requirements to assure the report is accurate, Battles said. It alerts the officer to errors, incomplete or inaccurate data.
"All the Florida charges are dropped in," Battles said, noting the system can also generate and print traffic citations. "All you have to add is the city ordinances."
Vehicle identification numbers are automatically imported from the state motor vehicle database, and click-and-drag technology facilitates preparing accident report diagrams previously done by hand.
While the demonstration impressed councilmen, departmental budgets are still being reviewed and adjusted; there is no guarantee that Taylor's request will be approved.
The City Council will further discuss the budget during a workshop on Tuesday. The new budget will be implemented by Oct. 1.
The Crestview City Council's next budget workshop is 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview police: Outdated computer system needs $800K replacement