Direct Entry Report Making Process (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Ontario

City/ Region:

Halton

Description of Initiative:

Voice dictation system for the submission of police reports to our Records Bureau.

Initiative Key Objectives:

To streamline the creation of police reports by harnessing available technology and reducing the reliance on old inefficient paper-based methods.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Police Resources Integration System Management (PRISM)

Key Contact:

Chris Lawson
chris.lawson@haltonpolice.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • private agencies/corporations

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

Purchased product.

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

Since 2010.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

An identified need to streamline report generation through the use of available technology.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

The voice dictation was approximately $300,000 to purchase and we also pay $20/month to have phones in 120 police cars ($2400/month).

Method of Implementation:

Will be phased in.

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

An officer can type approximately 20 words per minute but can speak 150 words per minute, so it is significantly less efficient to file a report by typing. We do not use “direct entry”; rather we use voice dictation. Now officers dictate their reports (typically from their notes) either to a recording system or to a live person (depending on the nature of the report). Officers now can submit their reports directly from their patrol vehicles without returning to stations. They are generally able to produce reports in shorter periods of time with significantly less paperwork.

Records Bureau staff then retrieve the recorded reports and manually enter them into the records management system. These electronic reports are then made available to a range of parties, including supervisors, for review. Once implemented, the system is largely self sufficient.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

Yes

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

A range of in-house messaging was used.

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • internal

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

No

Summary of the Outcomes:

N/A

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: