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Welcome to part 4 of 6 of GangScope’s first set of targeted discussions around the needs of Chief’s and Sheriffs.  We are at the half way mark and I hope this has useful thus far in sparking interest around enhancing your department’s technological presence.  This week we are addressing the potential negatives of technology, and how a police department can best mitigate public opinion of viable tools.  This leads to this week’s question:

How are you building trust in the community with transparency of your systems?

Let me know if you have heard this one before.  Gang use is up in the area.  A database is implemented to assist with tracking gang members.  Over the course of time, some rules and guidelines are relaxed or not practiced, and then there is an uproar over years of information.  We have seen this in many of our major cities including Chicago and most recently Los Angeles.  The LAPD is currently in an overhaul now and it is all built on trust.  In the public sector, trust and transparency go hand in hand.

Transparency shows that you have nothing to hide and are operating by the book.  The government has put together several guidelines to assist here.  28CFR is the standard set of guidelines around building out a police database.  Sharing these rules, that you abide by, with the public shows the internal process and promotes understanding for the public.  There are even national qualifications/point systems that can be leveraged for uniform gang member qualifiers.  Sharing these with the public can set expectations that if found in certain situations, outside of individual bias, you will be labeled a gang member.  Taking the human element out things and making them more process oriented also helps to take blame away from officers simply doing their job.

GangScope’s database system includes all of these guidelines and more.  Our system follows standards that talk towards how to exit these systems, why you are listed as a gang member, and is optimized for most audits.  To add, permissions and information tracking assist in understanding who may be abusing the database internally and how.  This allows for early detection of any issues and mitigation before it becomes a public issue.  There is no reason to invest in a system that will end up bringing a department down in the long run!  Until next time… stay safe and continue the essential work of keeping us protected.

The GangScope Team

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