4 Ways to Improve Law Enforcement Officer Productivity with Technology

NOTE: This blog post has been updated here. Please view the updated version for the most current information. Thank you.

Law enforcement officers face job challenges and potential safety hazards on a regular basis, but technology is evolving to help them effectively manage these risks. To make sure we stay informed about these challenges, our team members meet with customers, consult with advisory council members and attend key conferences throughout the year. Recently, we went to the Law Enforcement Information and Technology (LEIT) conference to meet with law enforcement leadership, IT managers and technology specialists to discuss the latest solutions and best practices in law enforcement information management. Here, we share the top issues we heard from them and show how technology is helping overcome these roadblocks through job safety and efficiency improvements.

1. Improve Situational Awareness, Officer Productivity and Reporting Accuracy with Voice-to-Text Technology

One of the biggest pain points we heard from officers is the challenges they face digitally capturing evidence to support investigations and notations. The traditional method of typing reports is time consuming and requires officers to look down at a screen rather than keeping their eyes on the surrounding area, potentially compromising safety. Panasonic offers a voice-to-text solution specifically designed for law enforcement officers to dictate their reports so they can keep their eyes on their surroundings and complete tasks in a fraction of the time.

2. Achieve Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Compliance with Multi-factor Authentication

Access to CJIS databases is critical, and keeping this information secure is a top concern. To standardize data security and encryption, CJIS created standards for wireless networking, remote access, data encryption and multi-factor authentication. Our devices feature built-in fingerprint readers, facial recognition tools and other authentication software to keep sensitive data out of the wrong hands.

3. Improve Officer efficiency with the Intelligent Technology of Tomorrow

While departments may have existing mobile technology infrastructure in place, there is always room to improve as technology evolves and new safety concerns arise. Technology providers have made huge strides in providing law enforcement officials the ability to more flexible and efficient – but we’re always striving to do more. Whether it’s using deep learning to recognize when a person is getting drowsy behind the wheel, or relying on AI to detect unusual noises and alert officers before an issue arises – intelligent technology is enabling new levels of efficiency and situational awareness.

4. Solicit Customer Feedback Sooner than Later

Every law enforcement department has their own style of policing, but officers have traditionally been forced to make standard technology solutions fit into their own environment. At Panasonic, we’re committed to the voice of customer and letting them tell us what they need, not the other way around. We formed a Law Enforcement Advisory Council that includes members of police agencies of all different sizes to learn about specific challenges they face, so we can use that information in the product development process. By soliciting this customer feedback before our products go to market, we’re able to develop solutions to meet the needs of the wider law enforcement community.

Interested in learning more about how our technology can help your officers work more efficiently? Contact our experts at mobilityinsidesales@us.panasonic.com.