CASE STUDY: CALDWELL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
A Texas agency leaves manual processes behind for better, faster and more efficient solutions.
BACKGROUND
Caldwell County, Texas, which spans an area of 547 square miles, is situated approximately 36 miles south of Austin. With two larger cities, Lockhart and Luling, and 12 smaller cities and communities, the county is home to nearly 47,000 citizens.
Established in 1848, the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office is led by Sheriff Mike Lane. His staff includes Captain Kirk Kuykendoll along with 40 sworn deputies and other employees, including dispatchers. The Sheriff’s Office also operates a county jail that can house up to 200 inmates.
CALDWELL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
CHALLENGES
For years, deputies, dispatchers and other staff had to rely on paper-based processes to document incidents. From writing tickets to entering cases, all paperwork was completed manually, which meant duplicating work, sometimes multiple times.
The Sheriff Office’s dispatch software was also inefficient, requiring 911 dispatchers to type information from calls into three different databases, a process that took up time that could have been spent on other, more productive work.
Prior to adopting Kologik software, a simple incident—say, arresting an individual with an outstanding warrant at a traffic stop—often took hours to process. Without in-car computers, a deputy had to return to the Sheriff’s Office to complete paperwork following any arrest. In addition, because Caldwell County’s systems weren’t connected to one another, deputies had to type up information three times to complete their reports.
Another inefficient and time-consuming process involved the collection of crime data for the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Because the Sheriff’s Office used paper-based records, every month an administrative staff member needed to complete the tedious step of manually auditing and verifying all paper records. The combination of disparate systems and manual processes also adversely affected communication among departments, including deputies, administrative staff and dispatch.
SOLUTION
In December, 2021, the Sheriff’s Office made the decision to implement software that would help solve these inefficiencies. “We chose Kologik over any of the other tools available because their system was the only one that was patrol first-focused,” says Kuykendoll.
The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office was clear about what they wanted: a complete switch from the way they used to do things. That included a new Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records Management System (RMS), and COPsync, Kologik’s in-car software that allows deputies and officers to gather and share information at the point of incident and easily write, file and manage citations and reports. The Sheriff’s Office also opted to add two upgrades: ANI/ALI, to seamlessly pull in and display caller ID and location information via the CAD, and NIBRS, which automates the gathering of required information as deputies complete their reports.
Knowing that such a big change isn’t always easy, the Caldwell County team decided to make the transition in stages, allowing the deputies and others to gradually become more familiar with the new software solutions. “We didn’t want the new system to be too overwhelming,” Kuykendoll notes.
Because COPsync would be the office’s first-ever in-car computer system, the decision was made to introduce deputies to the new tool on individual laptops during initial training, rather than training deputies on the software in their vehicles. “Training went on for months,” he adds. “We met with developers, had Zoom meetings and [Kologik has] a 24/7 help desk that is there to help whenever we need it.”
The pay-off was almost immediate. With COPsync, the arrest record process can be completed in just 20 to 40 minutes instead of hours. “Everything is done with the push of a button,” says Kuykendoll. “The time savings alone is remarkable.” Since moving to Kologik, Caldwell County estimates that overall processes are 30% faster. In addition, with all records now digital, the Sheriff’s Office’s costs for paper dropped dramatically. Most important, “everything is 100% accountable and trackable,” he adds.
Another time-saving feature is COPsync’s Auto Vehicle Locator (AVL). With several deputies out in the field at any given time, AVL makes it simple to locate anyone immediately and in real time, and can also show the location of officers from other departments or agencies. The Sheriff’s Office has seen improved communication between nearby law enforcement departments that use COPsync, too.
Caldwell County’s new CAD has been a game-changer—not just making staff more efficient and productive, but also delivering more reliable data. The Sheriff’s Office receives 1,000 to 1,700 911 calls every month. While their previous dispatch software only showed 911 calls that had been manually entered into the system, Kologik CAD now logs every call sheet, including misdials, to better track emergencies in specific parts of the county.
The Sheriff’s Office also takes advantage of the CAD’s ability to customize permissions and notifications and automate tasks; for instance, deputies can now assign themselves to calls instead of needing a dispatcher to make an assignment. The software is working so well for Caldwell County that local volunteer fire departments have installed Kologik CAD, too, so everyone is on the same system.
The Sheriff’s Office also installed Kologik’s Records Management System (RMS), which has created new efficiencies and better workflows for the department, including streamlining the process of searching specific records.
Meanwhile, RMS has allowed the Sheriff’s Office to completely eliminate their tedious manual records auditing process for filing their NIBRS reports. “With RMS, we’re seeing a time savings of 50% or more for NIBRS reporting,” Kuykendoll said. “Because of the way RMS asks questions while deputies are filing the reports, there is much less work to be completed when the NIBRS reports are due.” Since adopting the NIBRS module upgrade to COPsync and RMS, the data is automatically audited as it’s entered by deputies, saving a significant amount of time and making the process less prone to human error.
Kologik’s customer support is another stand-out benefit of their suite of solutions, says Kuykendoll. “Our staff can reach out to Kologik at any time, day or night, and they will help us resolve whatever problem we’re having. Kologik’s help desk is always there to help – we’ve had our staff call the help desk at 2 a.m. and they’ve worked with us one-on-one to get an issue resolved.”
For more information on Kologik’s COPsync, CAD, RMS and JMS solutions, contact us at 855-339-9417.
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