Charlotte County, FL Animal Control Improves Information Sharing, Officer Safety with New Software
Located between Sarasota and Fort Myers on the southwest coast of Florida, Charlotte County is home to almost 200,000 people. Part of the county’s Public Safety Department, Charlotte County Animal Control is a full-scale animal services department. Its six officers handle an average of 440 calls a month for a wide range of animals, including wildlife, livestock, and exotic and domesticated animals.
Brian Jones, Division Manager for Charlotte County Animal Control, has been with the department for 26 years now and seen quite a few iterations of it.
“We’re always trying to do things better,” Jones said. “We have had some antiquated systems in our time here and have been trying to conquer them. Comcate was one of those things that helped us to jump a few hurdles at once.”
For many years Charlotte County Animal Control operated out of Microsoft SharePoint. While the software met the department’s needs for many years, when Microsoft announced that it would retire InfoPath Services – which was critical to the department’s use of the software – Charlotte County’s IT department let Animal Control know it was time to find something new.
“SharePoint was ok,” said Jones. “We didn’t hate it, but we figured if it was being phased out we might as well get something with some bells and whistles.” While no department ever looks forward to altering processes and retraining staff accordingly, sometimes unlooked-for change can be beneficial – especially when it involves switching to updated, modernized software created specifically for your line of work.
Finding the Right Fit
Administrative Services Coordinator Katelyn Warram, who has been with the department for 10 years, started the software search via Google and a couple of national Facebook groups for animal control professionals.
“The first thing we found is there aren’t a lot of animal control or animal services softwares out there. It’s slim pickings,” said Jones. “We know that Chameleon is a big one, but it really wasn’t a good fit for us because that’s usually for animal control agencies that have a shelter.”
Unlike some of its neighboring counties, Charlotte County contracts out for sheltering services, meaning its department focuses solely on animal control functions. As they ruled out software services with a large amount of sheltering functionality, the department zeroed in on Comcate’s Animal Control Manager, which is designed specifically for animal control departments.
Streamlined Information Sharing
One of the biggest benefits that Charlotte County has seen since switching to Comcate comes from the software’s ability to streamline the sharing of information between dispatchers and officers in the field. “In the pre-Comcate days, the officers were assigned calls through a radio. They would have to write down the information on a piece of paper then start typing out the report when they got there. With Comcate, we can streamline that process.”
Now when a call comes in, the dispatcher opens the software, creates a case with all the relevant information, then assigns it to the officer, who is automatically notified that they have a new call to investigate. “All the officer has to do is fill in the narrative of what they’re doing there at the call. That’s really changed the way we’ve done reports.”
Streamlining information sharing helps to create efficiencies – as does a faster program in general. “SharePoint was slow,” said Jones. “An officer would probably spend an extra 5 to 7 minutes in the field waiting for it to ramp up and typing in all the information. Now everything is preloaded. So that’s 5-7 extra minutes they don’t have to be at a call. Now they can get more calls done, get out at 5:00, get to lunch on time. It’s really helped in that field.”
Even little things like the ability to instantly upload photographs and attach them to a case in the system has been a game-changer for Charlotte County. Not only does this feature save the department the hassle of printing out photos and stapling them to physical reports, but it helps Jones have more informed discussions with residents who call in to the department. “As soon as a photo is uploaded from the field, I can see it, whereas before the officers had to text it to me,” said Jones. “We have people calling in all the time saying ‘this and that’ and now I can see what they’re seeing, which helps me to speak to them. Before I would have to say, ‘Let me look at the report and I’ll call you back.’ Now I can do everything in real-time.”
Sr. Officer Emily Graham, Charlotte County Animal Control
Increased Safety for Officers in the Field
While efficiency and better information sharing are great for their own sake, both also contribute to officer safety in the field, which was an important consideration for Charlotte County, too. “Sometimes there’s a house where you need to be aware of a few things before you walk up to that front door and knock on it. There was no way in SharePoint to electronically flag that. Comcate allows us to red flag addresses for hostile people or declared dangerous dogs, so the officer now knows that when they pull up to a call. It just keeps everyone a little bit safer.”
Better Analytics and Reporting
Comcate’s ability to provide the county with real-time analytics was also a selling point. “We couldn’t measure a lot of the data in SharePoint. But Comcate allows us to see how many cases are open, how many we’ve closed and stuff like that. That’s important for us at budget time. If we’re going to ask our board of commissioners for an extra position or administrative person, we’ve got to have accurate numbers to demonstrate the need. Comcate will help us do that.”
Post-Disaster Support
Living in southwest Florida, destructive weather events are always top-of-mind for those in public safety roles like animal control. “I’ve been through three or four major hurricanes,” Jones said. From packs of dogs running loose to livestock stranded in high water to pet owners flooded into their home with no way to feed their animals, Charlotte County Animal Control has to be ready to handle a wide range of animal problems in the wake of a natural disaster.
During post-disaster work, Animal Control works with the other public safety departments from a central hub where they disseminate information to officers in the field. Jones believes that pairing Comcate’s cloud-based software with the increased mobility of tablets will better facilitate officers to remotely get work done, whether for post-disaster support or day-to-day activities. “We haven’t had Comcate yet post-disaster, but I think it will help us to stay in-touch post-disaster, and that’s really important.”
“A Real Time Saver”
In many ways Charlotte County is still ramping up with its new software solution. “We’re still working on adding things, like better search criteria,” said Warram. “It’s new, but it’s all working out.”
While Comcate is still new to Charlotte County, it’s been received well overall. “I know the officers like it,” said Jones. “It provides better information. It’s more accurate. It’s waiting for them when they get to calls. It’s a time-saver all the way around. And that’s a big thing to officers. Morale is important here because we see a lot of stuff that’s not pretty. So anything that can make the officers’ lives a little easier, I will take.”
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