GULF SHORES, Ala. – March 12, 2014 – After performing an extensive search for a software vendor, the Gulf Shores Police Department in Alabama has chosen Spillman Technologies for its Records Management System (RMS), Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), and mobile software. Spillman’s integrated suite will help the agency improve efficiency with data sharing capabilities and the ability to see connections between records.
The Gulf Shores Police Department originally used a city utility software module for dispatch and public safety records management, but experienced some limitations, said Alicia Talley, Administrative Supervisor for the department.
“At first, we didn’t realize we wanted law enforcement specific software,” said Talley. “But it soon became clear that we did.”
She said that the old software system presented a number of problems for the department.
“We had had a lot of trouble with statistics. We had a new chief at the time and everything he asked [for], we had trouble doing.”
Through its CompStat Management Dashboard, Spillman will help Gulf Shores pull the data needed out of its system for analysis. The dashboard enables agencies to conduct Intelligence-Led Policing by calculating trends and patterns using information from their Spillman database and displaying it in an easy-to-understand format. Gulf Shores will use this module to help its team compare statistics to determine how to best use agency personnel and resources.
Gulf Shores will host a shared system with their neighboring town, Orange Beach. The two towns, located on an island on the southernmost point of Alabama, will benefit from sharing critical law enforcement information. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach serve a combined year-round population of more than 14,000, and the area is an award-winning tourism destination on the Gulf of Mexico. With many of the same repeat offenders and a common problem of a large number of tourists, they valued a system that would allow them to share data easily, and in real time.
“Sharing data couldn’t be done in the past because everybody had different software,” said Talley. “If we all had the same database, it would be amazing,”
With Spillman, the agencies can search shared data to find suspect records by physical descriptions, nicknames, and associations with other criminals, among many other types of criteria.
Lt. Bill Cowan, head of the department’s search committee for the public safety software, noted that their previous system also presented a challenge they faced with conducting investigations.
“With investigations, we [could not] get data out of our [previous] software,” Lt. Cowan said. “…in the demo with Spillman, it was obvious of getting data back out. Spillman demonstrated the ability to get the data we need.”
The Gulf Shores Police Department went live with the new software in mid-December. The agency is one of 24 agencies in Alabama and almost 1,200 agencies across the country using Spillman software.
Spillman Technologies is a public safety software provider headquartered in Salt Lake City, serving police departments, sheriff’s offices, communication centers, fire departments, and correctional facilities nationwide. Spillman specializes in integrated software solutions, including Computer Aided Dispatch, Records Management Systems, Mobile Data & Field Reporting, Mapping & GIS, CompStat & Intelligence-Led Policing, Jail Management Systems, Fire, Data Sharing, and Personnel & Resources. For more information about Spillman, visit www.spillman.com.
