by Nathan Boddy
The Hamilton Police Department has adopted usage of a new program aimed at making it easier for the public to communicate with the City of Hamilton. The software, called MyPDConnect, has recently been deployed by Steve Snavely, and will continue under a contract for three years.
MyPDConnect is the creation of an Oregon-based software developer, and refers to itself on its website as a “next generation online reporting and virtual policing solution.” Snavely explained the rationale behind adoption of the software to the Hamilton City Council on both September 16th and October 1st. According to Snavely’s report, the usage of programs like MyPDConnect is, “becoming more and more the norm.” Hamilton will be the second town in Montana to adopt the program, after Whitefish.
The program allows citizens to use an on-line platform to report suspected crimes. The service is not for crimes which are actively in progress, but instead focuses on non-time sensitive crimes such as lost property, theft, fraud or vandalism. Citizens who use the service can input information about the potential crime, and are able to upload photos and videos as well.
“It will free up officer time since citizens are reporting it online rather than calling in to dispatch,” said Snavely. “I believe it will free up officers to spend more time on the streets since they will not be typing up reports on these online-generated reports.”
When speaking with the Hamilton City Council on September 16th, Snavely had encouraged adoption of the program because he felt it could, “bridge the gaps when we are short-staffed.”
Apart from the police department, however, Snavely would like to see the program utilized for all departments within the city. Complaints about dogs in the park, downed trees or code violations could all be collected using the same platform before being distributed to the appropriate department.
Snavely spoke with the Bitterroot Star about the program, and was hopeful that the program would have its first positive impact on the area’s Emergency Services dispatch, which is shared valley-wide. When calls come in to EMS, they may be for citizen complaints that are not emergency in nature. This can become a drain on the time and resources of the dispatch service. Snavely sees the MyPDConnect as changing that dynamic by giving less time-critical complaints and concerns another outlet.
“All these calls would typically come into our dispatch center, who is overworked and understaffed,” he said. With MyPDConnect, he says, those non-emergency calls will instead come directly to the Hamilton Police Department.
“This little bit that we can do to help lighten the load to them, I think it’s going to make a tremendous impact.”
There are three ways citizens can access the program. People can call or text the word ‘REPORT’ to: 406-802-3622, and a link to the service will then be sent back. Alternatively, citizens can use the QR code which will take them directly to the platform online. Snavely said that many police departments place QR codes to their online policing platforms directly onto their vehicles.
Snavely also informed the city council that his department has been awarded a $125,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The funds will be used to staff a School Resource Officer (SRO).
Currently, Hamilton has only one SRO, Patrolman Chris Lueck, who has to spend his time balanced between Daly, Hamilton Middle, and Hamilton High Schools, with attendance at the alternative school as needed. Snavely says he plans to assign the new SRO a full-time position in the Middle School.
“I’ve seen some more issues have come up lately with juvenile crime in the middle school,” said Snavely, “so I thought it’d be advantageous to get a full-time SRO.”
In yet another development, Snavely says that the Hamilton PD has now bundled purchases of tasers, vehicle cameras, interview room cameras and body cameras, from the vendor of public safety equipment, Axon. The usage of body cameras is a new development with the Hamilton PD, but Snavely said that Axon was, “the standard in our industry.”