Cleburne Police Department has joined partners across Johnson County to use shared dispatch and database technology to improve public safety efforts across the region.
The City recently became part of the county-wide Computer-Aided Dispatch and Records Management System. The system is a shared computer dispatch and database accessed by cities across Johnson County. By sharing resources, officials believe this change will lead to better data quality, less redundancy, and improve disaster recovery.
“Before if there was a police chase coming to town we would not know what other police organizations were doing unless they called,” Assistant Police Chief Amy Knoll said. “Now we have the ability to see what is going on by viewing where other law enforcement units are on real-time maps; the system will even recommend the nearest units.”
Joining the regional system allows Cleburne Police to share data with neighboring agencies, see crimes happening throughout Johnson County, and more. Participating entities in the Johnson County Public Safety Software Consortium include Johnson County, Johnson County Emergency Services District, and the cities of Cleburne, Burleson, Alvarado, Joshua, Venus, Keene, and Grandview.
For crime analysts in Cleburne and partnering jurisdictions, this means having access to a wider set of data to research crime trends and patterns through improved information sharing. For detectives, this means being able to share evidence to tie together crimes.
“Now if we are seeing a series of credit card abuse cases, our detectives can see if Burleson has had similar crimes possibly committed by the same group of people,” Knoll said.
The new technology also improves leadership’s communication with Cleburne Fire. Johnson County Emergency Services is responsible for all fire dispatch in the County. Now that the City is on the same service, local leadership and dispatch are aware of on-going fire calls. Knoll said several emergencies need both police and fire support and this will help public safety staff streamline communication and manage call loads.
Police Chief Rob Severance said this new move is an example of police agencies sharing more resources and strengthening partnerships.