How Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies Can Address Requirements in SB20-217 (Part 2)
Summary:
- SB20-217 is a new Colorado law requiring multiple things from law enforcement agencies in the state.
- In addition to wearing body-worn cameras (BWC), as outlined in part 1 of this series, they also need to collect and submit incident and stop data.
- Agencies need a tool officers can use to limit the time they spend creating these reports and have it structured on the backend where the DOJ will accept the data.
In the first part of this series, we dove into the intricate redaction process that law enforcement agencies need to adapt to keep pace with Colorado Law SB20-217. The law’s stipulations, specifically the issuance of body-worn cameras to officers and the systematic release of recordings post-misconduct complaints, call for a modernized approach. Additionally, the act’s emphasis on collating data, such as stop data, using force or unannounced entries, necessitates a comprehensive data management framework. Addressing this, our focus in this segment is to shed light on efficient mechanisms agencies across other states have adopted to collect and submit data.
Efficient Data Collection
Many law enforcement agencies that have faced similar legislative mandates are forced to scramble for a solution. Only after implementation do they realize how long their officers take to fill out reports, keeping them buried in data collection rather than patrolling. From our experience working closely with agencies in California, we’ve found that officers took 5 to 8 minutes per person on a report. Across an entire shift, that amounts to hours out of the day where the patrol car wheels are not moving. With this new law in Colorado, agencies will need a faster and cleaner way to collect and submit data to remain compliant.
Organizing Data for Submission
The stop data collection challenge doesn’t end in the field. On the backend, many agencies face the hurdle of disorganized and unprocessed data. Some Californian agencies grappled with messy backend data despite having tools for stop data collection. Submitting such data to the Department of Justice (DOJ) necessitated extensive internal rework or, in some cases, third-party intervention—that all changes with Veritone Contact.
Veritone Contact is an intelligent stop data collection application law enforcement officers use for data collection for pedestrian or vehicle stops. It helps law enforcement agencies collect and report data in compliance with legislation by offering a solution that gives an 80% time savings to law enforcement officers and getting them back on patrol. Part of this time savings is how the application intelligently routes the officer to the quickest path to completion based on the answers to the questions. As such, it greatly reduces time spent by officers collecting data, minimizes review efforts, and provides command staff immediate insight for training and other constituent transparency initiatives. Unlike other solutions, Veritone Contact is swift, intuitive, and easy to use, automating the collection and compliance of racial profiling stop data reporting. It also allows agencies to create custom questions to collect data on top of what’s required by any legislation.
San Luis Obispo Police Department, grappling with the dual challenge of extensive report creation time and disorganized backend data, found solace in Veritone Contact. Teaming up with our professional services, they streamlined report creation in the field and overhauled their existing backend data for DOJ submission. Similarly, the Orange Police Department, besieged by RIPA (AB952) challenges, leveraged Veritone Contact to reduce report creation time to 2 minutes compared to other tools that averaged 5 to 6 minutes.
As the clock ticks towards the implementation of SB20-217, the onus is on Colorado Law Enforcement Agencies to rethink their data collection and submission methodologies. They don’t just need a solution; they need a strategic partner. Veritone, with its proven track record and robust suite of solutions, stands poised to assist Colorado’s law enforcement agencies in seamlessly navigating the challenges posed by the new law, ensuring that the sanctity of their mission remains uncompromised.
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