550-1: What advice would Sharon Wheeler have given to the Tempe Police Department, if she had been asked?

INTRODUCTION

The Tempe police department is actively engaged in COP /POP or Community Oriented Policing /Problem Oriented Policing . Tempe excels at presenting crime information to the community via the use of the internet . The main problems facing the Tempe police department include how to track COP activities and problem solving techniques . Recently , the IT functions of the police department have been centralized with the city 's IT service professionals . The following summary presents the challenges faced by the police department in terms of IT and a brief overview of the recommendations

for solutions to these issues

SUMMARY

Maintenance of the Internet site for citizens to access crime statistics and information regarding the Tempe police department 's operations This function should be brought in-house , managed by the central IT department . Issues regarding network security and server capabilities need to be addressed

Information sharing between departments and functions need to be improved . With the use of intranet technologies , this goal can be met Particular concerns are around security , maintenance , and data structures

Connections between the police offices and officers on the beat need to be improved . Application support for police activities needs to be maintained , as well as new software tools developed or purchased for informational needs . The recommendation is to look for web-based software to meet these needs , as the needs are identified . The WAN used to support police officers needs to be maintained by the central IT department , as well as security to sensitive information

INTERNET SITE FOR CITIZENS

Citizens of Tempe are currently able to access crime statistics published by the Crime Analysis Unit . This is a key aspect of the police department 's commitment to Community Oriented Policing . It is important that the web server be available at all times , and that the police department maintains control over the information available to citizens on the web site . Updates of information are frequent . By examining the case studies , it is difficult to know if the web server is hosted on site or at a public server . It is my recommendation that if the city IT group has the technical know-how and personnel , this website should be managed on a city owned and operated server . This will give the police department easier access to their information and also keep backups and sensitive information within the control of the city Additionally , by keeping the web server in house , the data between other systems can be more easily linked into the public web server . As the data becomes more integrated , security concerns also increase . The IT group should consider the use of firewall software , encryption , and routers established between the internet server and the intranet servers

IMPROVED INFORMATION SHARING BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS

It is essential that the Tempe police department have access to other governmental records , including land records , judicial records , and building permits . By centralizing the IT function across the government agencies , Tempe is already moving towards central data warehousing facilities maintained privately . In any project dealing with sensitive information such as...