Innovative public safety portfolio has heightened automation.
New Brighton Department of Public Safety, Minnesota, found the ideal complement to its use of CentralSquare Public Safety Suite Enterprise for their records management system (RMS), computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and i-PRO body-worn and in-car camera systems.
With investigators now collecting cellphone footage, doorbell video, audio recordings and more, digital evidence storage requirements were growing and data sharing becoming complicated and time-consuming.
The department turned to Genetec’s Clearance digital evidence management system (DEMS) providing data management to support investigations and working seamlessly with the CentralSquare RMS and i-PRO cameras as a comprehensive public safety solution.
“Our records staff gets about 1,000 digital media requests per year. They had to burn media onto DVDs. Each DVD took an hour, or sometimes several hours, to burn. Handling those investigations as well as managing data storage and data dissemination was using a lot of our resources,” said Trevor Hamdorf, Deputy Director of Public Safety, New Brighton Department of Public Safety.
“Clearance did everything we needed it to do and more.”
Since implementing Clearance, CentralSquare RMS, and i-PRO body-worn and in-car video systems, the department has seen huge efficiency gains through heightened automation – saving countless hours for everyone from dispatch operators and police officers to records staff.
“The time savings we’ve experienced has been significant. All our processes from evidence collection and sharing to data retention and deletion have been streamlined,” said Hamdorf.
With the new systems, when a 911 call comes into the dispatch center, the operator creates an incident number and determines the caller’s location. As soon as they assign the call to New Brighton DPS, a case number is created in the RMS, which then automatically creates a case in Clearance. As officers respond to the scene, the body camera turns on. They capture witness statements on their body cams while in-car cameras capture more of the scene and anything else that’s happening. All cameras upload directly to Clearance, where that evidence is easily associated with the case file.
“We’ve completely digitized the evidence collection process with Clearance. On the scene, officers can create and share a QR code with witnesses who then use that to upload files from their phones into the DEMS case file. At the station, officers simply create an evidence request link and email it to recipients. These recipients then retrieve video from their doorbell cameras, video systems or even their mobile phones and securely share it with investigators using the link,” said Hamdorf.
Simplifying evidence management
During an investigation, officers have everything at their fingertips. Finding evidence is as simple as entering the case number in Clearance. They can also input quick search parameters in Clearance such as date, time, types of files or GPS coordinates.
Switching to a map view in Clearance displays all available evidence that matches the search criteria on a city map. Since Clearance is a web-based system, officers can access information from anywhere. Being able to set user permissions for viewing, downloading and exporting evidence within Clearance allows the department to further protect and compartmentalize data.
“Our officers know that every user interaction is tracked within Clearance and we can pull audit trails any time. These audit logs are also very helpful when we share data with attorneys. We have confirmation when they receive the evidence and when they view or download it,” said Hamdorf.
Likewise, most of the data management is automated. When an officer closes a case, the data retention period begins. When the retention period ends, data is automatically deleted. This not only optimizes data storage but also enhances data protection and privacy compliance by ensuring the Department only keeps video and data for as long as the State Records Retention Schedule requires.
Strengthening data security with a cloud-based DEMS
Ensuring evidentiary integrity is particularly important for criminal cases and discoveries. And Hamdorf knows that they can rely on the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud to securely host their digital evidence, saying: “Our data security and privacy are strong with Genetec Clearance. All of our data is stored in the cloud and protected by built-in cybersecurity features in Genetec as well as by Microsoft,” he said.
Automated virus checks on files sent from third party sources help ensure there are no issues with malicious files that could be redistributed if downloaded to their network.
“Everything we do today is backed by cybersecurity best practices,” said Hamdorf.
“In Minnesota, requests for bodycam video of somebody who’s not the data subject are private.
“In situations where our records team needs to share footage with insurance companies, for example, we must also redact that video. The automatic redaction feature in Clearance makes this process smooth and effortless.”
Boosting city-wide collaboration and data dissemination instead of burning DVDs and manually sharing evidence, everything related to data dissemination has been streamlined in Clearance.
New Brighton has created user groups for both county and city attorneys with specific user permissions. This allows them to handle their disclosures and share evidence with public defenders as well.
“Before Clearance, the defense attorneys would request disclosures through the City Attorney’s Office and they would give them a form to request evidence directly from us. Now, the county and city attorneys have access to Clearance and can handle disclosures without our involvement,” said Hamdorf.
Supporting other agencies with new digital evidence strategies
Using the Clearance camera registry feature, the department has started collaborating with other local organizations.
An example is the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).
Some of the interstate cameras are linked on a city map with Clearance. When an incident occurs, they can quickly locate nearby cameras and send MnDOT a video evidence request, all from the DEMS.
“We’ve gained a lot from this solution. We want to share what we’ve learned with other agencies and help them achieve these efficiencies too. From a time, resources and safety perspective, there’s great value in this cloud-based public safety technology,” said Hamdorf.
