Managing case work can pose a real challenge to law enforcement agencies, and without the right solution, it can put a strain on the effectiveness and efficiency of overall operations. Criminal cases are diverse and complex, and they often involve different investigatory techniques, personnel from multiple agencies, and entering various types of evidence.
Delays in case resolution can negatively impact clearance rates and the quality of services provided by the law enforcement agency. But delays are all too common, caused by a lack of collaboration among departments, laborious manual processes, difficulty accessing information, and inaccurate reporting. What’s more, without proper safeguards in place, sensitive information can be at risk of theft or compromise, which can have serious consequences for the law enforcement agency and the community.
Why law enforcement needs case management software.
Most police departments use records management systems (RMS), which are typically designed to record criminal incidents in compliant reports. But an RMS doesn't address the need for investigation, collaboration across units, and other mission-critical tasks. According to the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), RMSs are not suited for the case management functionality required to improve clearance rates.
As many law enforcement agencies face an increase in crime rates and the number of cases they handle, it has become imperative to streamline their processes and make them more efficient, effective, and secure. A case management platform enables police departments and other law enforcement agencies to more easily manage the full lifecycle of an incident, from the initial report through building and preparing the case for court.
Adopting the right law enforcement software will help your officers solve more crimes faster, improve clearance rates, and become more efficient and effective.
Download our guide to learn how you can speed up your processes and results and the pitfalls to avoid when selecting a case management solution.
Benefits of case management software include:
- Improved collaboration: Cases span multiple departments, and case management software can improve collaboration between them. By centralizing case information, a law enforcement case management solution makes it easy for different departments to access and share information.
- Increased efficiency: Automating routine tasks such as data entry and report generation frees up valuable time for law enforcement officers to focus on more important tasks. This increased efficiency can help reduce response times, improve the quality of services, and ensure that cases are resolved faster.
- Better decision making: Case management software empowers police departments and other law enforcement agencies to access case information in real time, leading to more informed decisions. Automated data ingestion and analysis helps reduce errors, improving the accuracy of investigation results and increasing the chances of successful case resolution.
- Enhanced data security: Law enforcement agencies handle sensitive information. Case management software keeps data secure by restricting access to only the appropriate stakeholders.
- Improved reporting: Quick and accurate report generation provides law enforcement agencies with detailed information about case progress and facilitates data-driven decision making.
- Improved outcomes: Easier access to accurate data results in detecting crimes sooner and catching and prosecuting criminals faster.
What to look for in law enforcement software for case management.
End-to-end visibility is vital for effectively managing cases. With so many stakeholders saving information in disparate systems, there needs to be a way to pull all the information together. Make sure to implement a solution that centralizes data across your systems and provides transparency in accordance with proper security access privileges.
Automating tedious processes such as creating files, searching for data, and creating reports is key to adding efficiencies and getting better results. It should be simple to develop preconfigured forms that let you capture information in the field and are easily customizable for different use cases.
Data fabrics connect your disparate systems and data sources without coding to provide a 360-degree view of a case, even when stakeholders enter information in different systems. You achieve complete transparency while continuing to use your existing systems for finance, evidence management, electronic records, crime databases, whistleblower and tips portals, GIS crime mapping software, and so on.
Appian delivers leading case management solutions for government agencies.
Appian has extensive experience supporting government agencies with case management solutions. Built using low-code, Appian solutions are quick to develop and deploy and easy to update for when you need to comply with new rules, support a new workflow, or customize a form or process. Consumer off-the-shelf (COTS) products, however, are typically costly and time-consuming to update.
Appian’s powerful data fabric capability, built-in robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent document processing (IDP) for extracting data from documents, machine learning, and AI help you streamline processes and become a more effective organization.
Download the eBook, Achieve Your Goals Faster with Case Management, to find out more about how case management technologies enable better case work—and visit the Appian website to explore our solutions.
