Using Technology to Navigate Through 2020
By : Jamie Hudson , Real-Time Information Center Supervisor – Elk Grove PD
One of the ways that the Elk Grove Police Department ( EGPD ) responded to the issues of 2020 was
the use of new technology to respond effectively and efficiently through our Real-Time Information Center ( RTIC ), which we opened in early 2020 . This allowed us to respond to protests , COVID , and all the other issues 2020 brought us . The RTIC has a video wall consisting of eight 55 ” monitors which with the help of RGB Spectrum ’ s Galileo Display Processor , can function as a single screen or many screens within the wall . It has three operator positions and was part of a capital improvement project using space inside our existing police department campus .
EGPD filled its first full-time position in the new RTIC on March 1st , 2020 . The supervisory position was tasked with assessing the abilities and needs of the RTIC to determine how it can best serve the police department and the community ’ s needs . Thirteen days later a local state of emergency was declared because of COVID-19 and the RTIC transitioned to the Department Operations Center ( DOC ) during the pandemic .
Since March , our agency has transformed the way we operate , plan , and respond to events . We found three main areas in which we ultimately focused on : Communication , Intelligence , Technology .
COMMUNICATION Teleworking began immediately upon stay at home language was contained in our county ’ s public health order . Chief Timothy
Albright believed it was imperative that all employees , especially those teleworking , receive timely and accurate information updates as we all navigated through the event . The RTIC was able to have a tactical dispatcher assigned to it full-time to work in the DOC . The DOC began daily briefings using Microsoft Teams to provide updates to all supervisory and management staff in a live and interactive setting . These daily briefings contained all information on the rapidly changing landscape related to COVID and contained the direction our agency was using for our response .
The DOC began publishing an “ Agency Brief ” which is sent weekly to all agency staff . This document contains new directives , updates , and other agency-specific information to ensure all employees have the most up to date information . We found it important to consolidate the information flow to be certain the message from our executive
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