New approaches to technology development and implementation can improve the frontline experience (FLE) in policing. Maximizing FLE is important for many reasons, including enhancing police officer job satisfaction and retention.

Leading police departments have recognized the importance of developing internal innovation capabilities, such as digital labs, that incorporate modern development practices and approaches such as human-centered design, Agile, DevSecOps, and minimum viable products (MVPs). By implementing these approaches, police departments can further enhance their FLE.

To ensure successful technology development and implementation in policing, focus on using a human-centered design (HCD) approach. HCD is a creative problem-solving process that prioritizes people’s needs, resulting in innovative solutions tailored to their requirements. Adopting HCD increases the likelihood that technology investments will meet user needs and usability standards, leading to higher user engagement, greater system efficiency, and more satisfied officers.

Improving FLE through technology is not solely the responsibility of the CIO. Organizational and cultural enablers are necessary to ensure the successful digital enablement of police officers.

Vishal Monga, MBA, PMP
Research Director, Public Sector
Info-Tech Research Group

• Innovation is critical for improving police officer efficiency, effectiveness, and safety.
• Technology is an important aspect of the frontline experience (FLE).
• Maximizing FLE for officers is crucial for job satisfaction and retention rates.
• Ineffective technology development and implementation can negatively affect the FLE.
• Improving the relationship between police officers and the communities they serve remains important.

• Traditional technology development approaches may not be effective in meeting police officer (and community) needs and usability standards.
• The lack of internal innovation capabilities in police departments contributes to ineffective technology development and implementation.
• Poor scaling, strategic planning, and staffing hinder FLE improvement.
• Moving quickly can be difficult within siloed structures.
• Improving existing technologies while developing future technologies poses a challenge.

• Adopt a human-centered design (HCD) approach to technology development and implementation.
• Incorporate modern development practices and approaches in police departments to improve the FLE.
• Ensure organizational and cultural enablers are in place for the successful digital enablement of police officers.
• Continue to innovate based on feedback from officers and the evolving needs of law enforcement agencies.

Overall experience in the journey as a police officer

• Investigations
• Community policing
• Traffic enforcement
• Emergency response
• Police procedures
• Laws and regulations

Focus: Broader range of skills and knowledge related to law, enforcement, and public safety

Experience gained by officers in their operational role

Experience as:

• Patrol officers
• SWAT team members
• 911 operators and dispatchers

Focus:

• Practical skills within policing context
• Knowledge related to specific operations
• Frontline employees connect regularly with the public

Number of officers resigned

3,253

3,307

4,643

Percentage change

1.7%

40.4%

• Collecting data from different tools and working on investigations with that data
• Reporting and preparing notes for patrolling and victimization

58% of officers use a combination of mobile and digital tools for completing incident reports.

96% of officers strongly agree that entering data into computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems in patrol cars is a cause of distraction.

• Integrated tools and data platform
• Considering police officer feedback in technology design
• Working on “best-fit” instead of “best-in-class” solutions

50% of officers manually transcribe their notes for incident reporting despite voice recorders and other mobile devices.

77% of officers are interested in exploring new technology to complete paperwork in a more efficient way.

• Briefing
• Taking vehicle from shift

• Reviewing the patrolling areas
• Court hearing plans
• Signing in tools for reports
• Route
• Emergency staffing planning

• Patrolling
• Observing suspicious behavior
• Investigating suspicious behavior
• Emergency response service
• Apprehending suspects
• Court duty
• Attending court as a witness
• Community engagement

• Debriefing
• Returning vehicle
• Report preparation
• Field notes of patrolling and investigations

• Fingerprint Scanner
• Retina Scanner

• Speech to Text
• Facial Recognition

• Virtual Reality
• Body-Worn Cameras

• Mobile Devices
• Data Management

Solutions are not created with adaptability and officers' needs in mind, leading to solutions that are time-consuming and inefficient to use.

Technology solutions are developed independently.

Officers face the challenge of using and capturing data for many independent solutions.

Due to the footprint of video storage, data usage has abruptly increased.

Infrastructure support is required to manage the data.

Different data sources are leading to evidentiary problems within the court systems.

Lack of integration impacts scalability.

Innovation is not a one-off but a loop that requires continuous improvement (e.g. predictive analytics).

• Officer-centric solution
• Communities' adoption of the solution
• Technical resourcing

• Building a cross-functional team
• Gathering input from frontline officers

• Overcoming siloed technology usage
• Compatibility with communities and officers

• Involving communities
• Product orientation design and UX that meets officer needs.
• Using “mobile first”

• Officer efficiency and effectiveness

• Involving frontline officers in solution implementation.
• Understanding officer requirement

• Continuous improvement
• Increasing usage
• Innovation

• Product design considering the frontline officer journey
• Integrations with current solutions
• Research labs

Toronto Police Services

Designed community engagement dashboard

Conducted interviews with officers and community members to gather insights into how to provide progress update on policing reform implementation status.

• Human-centered approach
• Community support
• Addressing specific need

New York

Police Department

Redesigned complaint process system

Conducted research and interviews with complainants to understand their experiences and pain points with the existing process.

• Human-centered approach
• Community support
• Addressing specific need
• Ongoing evaluation

Queensland Police Department

Designed trust-based platform for crime-affected areas

Conducted research and interviews to capture a holistic understanding of Queensland’s victims of crime to create design criteria for future solutions to help them feel safe.

• Human-centered approach
• Community support
• Addressing specific need
• Holistic implementation

Seattle Police Department

Redesigned in-car computer system

Conducted research with officers to understand how they used the system and what improvements could be made.

• Human-centered approach
• Addressing specific need
• Holistic implementation

• Vulnerable community members remained in a cycle of arrest, remand, and release.
• Police officers lacked the skill sets to understand the specific needs of the city’s vulnerable population.

The Human-centered Engagement and Liaison Partnership (HELP) Unit formed in 2019 under the goals of Vision 2020 and launched on January 4, 2021.

The main role is to partner with community service providers to help people achieve independence and create lasting positive change.

1. HELP guides individuals to appropriate service providers before involving them in the judicial system.
2. HELP builds relationships to uncover what needs the individuals have that aren’t being met. The team then helps them meet those needs in a sustainable way

1. Reduced demand of frontline officers for community tracking
2. Created change in the lives of vulnerable community members
3. Increased trust in community
4. Increased effectiveness of police officers

The LAPD faces several challenges:

• Gaining public trust and ensuring transparency
• Improving police efficiency
• Bolstering law enforcement legitimacy

Technology Integration

• The LAPD mandated body-worn cameras for all officers.
• Digital in-car video was integrated in all police vehicles.

Legitimacy & Compliance

• The LAPD introduced a revised policy for publicly sharing video of critical incidents.

1. Increased trust within community
2. Increased officer efficiency
3. Real-time information
4. Evidence support
5. Increased legislative compliance

Bureaucratic barriers: Police departments are often structured in a hierarchical manner, which can make it difficult to implement new ideas and initiatives quickly.

Resistance to change: Officers in the department may be resistant to change, particularly if it threatens their job security or requires them to learn new skills.

Budget constraints: Police departments often have limited resources, which can make it challenging to invest in new technologies or processes.

Political considerations: Political leaders may be hesitant to support innovative initiatives that could be perceived as controversial or risky.

Privacy and security concerns: The use of new technologies in policing may raise concerns around privacy and security, particularly if citizen data is involved.

Lack of expertise: The police department may lack the expertise needed to implement and manage new technologies or processes, leading to implementation challenges and delays.

“It is clear that continuing education is a critical component of your ability to lead your organization and serve your communities.”

– Chief Davis, faculty member, University of San Diego

Lab dedicated to developing innovative solutions to the challenges faced by law enforcement. The lab uses design thinking, Agile methodologies, and data analytics to identify opportunities for innovation and create new technologies and approaches to policing.

Collaborative space where officers can work together to develop new ideas and technologies. The center focuses on developing solutions to issues such as crime prevention, community engagement, and officer safety.

Team of officers and civilians who work together to identify opportunities for innovation in law enforcement. The bureau uses design thinking and Agile methodologies to develop new technologies and approaches to policing.

Officers and civilian employees who are dedicated to developing innovative solutions to policing challenges. The team focuses on developing solutions that improve officer safety, enhance community engagement, and reduce crime.

Engage police officers, the community, and other stakeholders in the design and delivery of services. This approach ensures that services are tailored to user needs and preferences and improves satisfaction.

Encourage police officers to think creatively and experiment with new ideas and approaches. This requires a culture that rewards risk-taking and supports continuous learning and development.

Innovation often requires collaboration across departments/agencies and with external partners. This enables sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources and can lead to more effective and efficient service delivery.

Data analytics can help identify opportunities for improvement and make evidence-based decisions in policing. Data can be used to identify trends, track performance, and monitor outcomes of policing.

Technology can enable innovation by streamlining processes, improving communication and collaboration, and enhancing effectiveness. Police departments should invest in emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and the Internet of Things to improve service delivery.

Innovation involves taking risks, and failure is an inevitable part of the innovation process. Police departments should embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and to improve their processes and services.

HCD can improve police officer satisfaction. This can be measured through surveys, feedback mechanisms, and other means of gauging citizen satisfaction with policing.

Innovation can lead to cost savings by streamlining processes, reducing duplication, and eliminating waste. These savings can be measured by comparing the cost of delivering services before and after innovation initiatives are implemented.

Innovation can improve the quality, timeliness, and responsiveness of policing. This can be measured by tracking service delivery metrics such as response times, processing times, and customer complaints.

Innovation can improve the efficiency of police operations, leading to faster, more accurate, and more effective service delivery. This can be measured by tracking metrics such as productivity, throughput, and resource utilization.

The adoption rate of new technologies and processes can be used to measure the success of innovation. High adoption rates indicate that innovations are meeting user needs and are being effectively integrated into policing operations.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) didn’t have time to review every recording of police officers’ body-worn cameras.

The department wanted to align training with what officers needed, but they lacked understanding of what training was required.

Technology Integration

• SPD integrated an AI platform with body-worn camera recordings to understand the behavioral patterns of police officers.
• The integrated AI platform identified audio cues.

Training

• SPD built the training based on the patterns identified by the AI platform, enabling the department to address the risks officers faced.

1. Increased trust within the community
2. Identification of training requirements
3. Well-designed training course