On Thursday, I’m attending two meetings that have a big impact on how our police department conducts business.
First, I’ll be attending a meeting in Owatonna with a number of the public safety department heads and the director of the Pearl Street Communications Center. The Center is in the process of replacing the computer aided dispatch software (CAD) with a hopefully more powerful and open-ended design. In the afternoon, I’m going to St. Paul to discuss how the newly initiated CriMNet system will impact our local records management systems.
Minnesota is way out in front of any other state in the design of a comprehensive criminal justice information system that will be accessible to all components of the system. I’m fortunate enough to sit on the operations task force for CriMNet the past year or so and it’s been a very interesting and informative experience.
The real winners are the residents of our communities who benefit from law enforcement’s ability to communicate and share information with prosecutors, judges, probation officers and public defenders.