Brian Mc Grew
VP of Education
The Grand Junction Police Department has found the utilization of proactive policing can make a difference in their community. Over the past three years alone, CFS (or “calls for service”) in the 2100 North Avenue area grew to an unsettling average of about 130 per week. Calls ran the gamut among nearly every type of crime you could think of and the department was devoting a huge amount of its resources to this one area and trends still showed no signs of reversing. It was clear that a new approach was needed and it was needed as soon as possible.
The new approach decided upon was to leverage a police-centric intelligence collecting and sharing platform to collect and disseminate operational information, align manpower, manage equipment, and account for officer activity.
With the addition of the SmartForce™ Agency Management System (AMS), the Grand Junction Police Department embarked on an active, focused operation for 13 weeks (February 17, 2017 to May 17, 2017) on the 2100 North Avenue area.
By creating an “Ops Discussion” in SmartForce™ for the different units within GJPD to post and access information in real-time, officers and supervisors gained immediate visibility over key data, direction, manpower, equipment, and other resources associated with the 2100 North Operation. Officers could view real-time updates from their crime analyst on where crimes were taking place, what kinds of crimes, and contact information about suspects in the area as well as those calling for service. Supervisors made decisions on deploying manpower and equipment resources based on the real-time data so as to deter crimes from occurring through such a pro-active policing approach.
The results speak volumes. From the charts below comparing Calls for Service over like time periods to the 2100 North Avenue, a full 50% decrease was seen or 65 per week. Even after the operation had completed, the CFS rate dropped to only six per week – a record low for the area and the department. 
In short, SmartForce™ gave the Grand Junction Police Department something much more powerful than simple information – it gave them real-time insight and operational organization never before realized to significantly elevate public safety to this problem-area for the first time in years.
