US Dept of Justice 8/13/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

modern interview room recording system will allow for reliable, high quality recording and monitoring (in real time) of interviews. There are several challenges to purchasing and integrating an up-to-date interview room recording and monitoring system in our agency. Any purchase of this amount (estimated $40,000) requires compliance with all city purchasing policies and state law. The EPD would also need to work with our City's Information Technology department to ensure that the system met current and future standards for integration, security firewall protection, storage and other technology concerns. An interview room video recording system keeps police officers' and detectives interactions with the public transparent, as interviews conducted with suspects, witnesses or other involved parties are recorded, if permission is granted. If there are concerns raised with the manner, duration or intensity of interviews, they can be viewed both internally and externally to verify whether the concerns are valid. These systems also keep officers safe, as they can be watched from outside the room in real time. This allows detectives and officers the ability to have close cover without a police-dominated environment in the room, which could negatively affect the interview. With the previous system at its end of live, the Everett Police Department has identified this as a priority for funding under the 2020 Justice Assistance Grant. Project Design and Implementation The Everett Police Department conducted an in-depth strategic planning process in 2012, and created a detailed plan3. Its purpose was to guide decision making for the agency from 2013- 2018, which included setting priorities and identifying projects that needed funding. During this planning process the agency established a steering committee that interviewed both internal and external stakeholders within the community to determine the needs of the agency. Internal stakeholders included staff from the police department, as well as other city departments that had direct dealings with the agency. External stakeholders included community members, business owners, educational institutions, immigrants, visitors and others. Crime data was reviewed, but the committee also listened as members of the community expressed fear of crime that did not necessarily mirror reported crime statistics. As such, the new department mission and vision, focused on both crime fighting and addressing quality of life issues that helped community members feel safe. Interviews with community stakeholders made two additional points clear. The community was proud of the work of the police department and they wanted officers to continue to proactively address crime trends, while staying as safe as possible. The community also wanted to be involved in addressing crime and quality of life issues within the city. To that point, they expected the department to be transparent, giving community members a thorough understanding with how they were policing the community and meeting their needs. This helped them build trust in the department. This was reinforced in 2018, when Mayor Franklin issued a directive on 3 City of Everett,"Strategic Plan 2013-2018",Posted January 1,2013. https://www.everettwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1139/Strategic-Plan-PDF?bid 1d=.