News - Local News

POSTED: Tuesday, Sep. 15, 2009

Grant could help Whatcom sheriff's office manage records efficiently, save money

When Whatcom County Sheriff's Office deputies write reports documenting crimes, they're starting a process that is time-intensive, costly and antiquated, Undersheriff Carey James said.

The reports must be printed out and retyped into numerous computer systems as they move from evidence control to records, from there to the Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office and then to the courts system.

If other county agencies such as the Whatcom County Jail or the District Court Probation department need a report, they'll have to get a paper copy and retype it into their systems, James said.

"It's a nightmare," James said. "It seems like you're constantly chasing your tail with this paper trail."

A federal grant worth about $92,000, however, could help put an end to that, James said.

The Whatcom County Council is scheduled to formally approve the grant application at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The grant would pay for the Sheriff's Office to hire a consultant to evaluate its records system and recommend a unified computer system that would reduce redundancies and save taxpayers money, James said.

The computer system, once installed in the Sheriff's Office and other county agencies, would allow workers at any involved agency to retrieve deputies' reports once they're put in, James aid.

James applied for the grant in July. It's part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package President Obama proposed and the U.S. Congress approved in February.

James said the Sheriff's Office has been approved for the grant but isn't sure when the money will arrive.

"We've met all the requirements," James said. "They just need to give us the money."

The federal government is requiring all law enforcement agencies to upgrade their records-management systems by June 2011, and the grant will help meet that requirement, James said.

"It's an unfunded mandate," James said. "We have to be compliant."

James said upgrading the system also would help prevent backlogs of reports that need to be put into the records staff's computer system.

Due to the county government's budget troubles, the Sheriff's Office is without one records clerk and has others gone on furlough, James said.

As a result, reports have piled up.

"Right now we're about 4,000 incident (reports) behind because we don't have enough people," James said. "The reports sit there and they don't get put into the system."

This backlog has already caused more than headaches for the records staff.

Residents in the Van Zandt area experienced a spike in property crimes recently, but deputies weren't aware of it because of the backlog, James said.

Many of their reports, which would establish a crime pattern and aid in arresting the thieves responsible, were sitting in that backlog.

After enough residents complained, deputies went through the backlogged reports and found the ones from the Van Zandt area, James said.

They were able to use those reports to establish a pattern, make at least one arrest and recover some stolen property, James said.

"The technology is there now," James said. "It's a shame we don't have a system like that in place now. It is something that is sorely needed."

SEE GRANT INFO

To see more about what the grant will do and a cost breakdown, click here.