Law enforcement

Technology helps officers stay situationally aware

Adopting new technologies in policing not only helps departments improve the safety of their officers, but also the citizens within their communities, and modernizing with new police reporting solutions can go a long way in accomplishing these goals.

There is a great deal of training involved in becoming a police officer, which makes sense, it’s a dangerous job.  Part of this training includes being well-versed on situational awareness, an important skill that officers learn using various tactical techniques. These include how and when to maintain a safe space between themselves and citizens, to specific patterns of behavior they should look for when out on patrol.  But what about staying heads-up when reporting?

An even more critical time for officers to be aware of their surroundings is when they are heads-down in the patrol vehicle, even when stationary. This is when they can be at their most vulnerable. Unfortunately, this is a situation that occurs more often than not; in fact, a recent national survey of police departments found that officers can spend up to 25 percent of their time completing incident reports while out on patrol. It’s in these instances when moving their eyes away from their line-of-sight, even for a moment, that can make them more prone to accidents – or worse, ambush.

Not surprisingly, more police departments are turning to technology to help alleviate the paperwork burden on their officers. A recent article in StateTech highlights how large police departments are responding to the paperwork overload. According to the article, Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti recently endorsed a plan to reduce the time officers spend on administrative tasks like incident reporting through IT upgrades and new technology.

This strategy, of adopting technologies in policing not only helps departments improve the safety of their officers, but also the citizens within their communities. Less time on reporting means more officers on the streets patrolling and protecting. Modernizing with new police reporting solutions can go a long way in accomplishing these goals.

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