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June 1990
RECORDS MANAGEMENT IN THE 1990s
By
Daniel L. Arkenau
Lieutenant, Commander of the Records Unit
Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Division
By 1988, the backlog of police records processing at the
Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Division reached the critical stage. As
in many police departments, the Records Unit used logbooks and 3
x 5 index cards to track accident reports. This process was slow
and extremely labor intensive. With hundreds of new reports and
retrieval requests coming in each day, the future of record
keeping looked even bleaker. In fact, it often took 6 weeks or
more to fill requests for copies of reports. At the same time,
the personnel complement in the unit continued to decrease.
To make the situation worse, the Records Unit was coming
under increasing pressure from insurance companies, city council
members, and from private citizens to provide this information on
a timely basis. At one point, a member of the local claims
association even came to the office and demanded better service.
Faced with this crisis, the division began to examine
alternative methods of managing files. Record-keeping personnel
considered several microfilm-based, computer-assisted retrieval
systems before selecting the optical disk image retrieval system.
This system proved to be the solution to a critical problem.
The division started using the optical disk system in March
1989. With this system, police officers now can call the
accident telephone line at the Records Unit and give the data
entry operator the accident date, report number, names of
drivers, locations, district of occurrence, and any injuries or
fatalities. The data entry operator then enters this information
into the optic system. This information provides a ready index
of all basic information concerning the auto accident and can be
retrieved, if needed, to provide a daily count of traffic
problems in the city.
When the original report arrives at the Records Unit, the
data entry operator enters the report number from the original
report. The automated, indexed information is then recalled from
data memory and checked for proper spelling and street locations.
The operator places the original report on the optic scanner
which photographs the report. This image is transmitted to the
optical disk for permanent storage. The entire process takes
approximately 30 seconds. The original report can then be
destroyed because the optic image can be used legally as the
original.
ADVANTAGES OF THE OPTICAL DISK IMAGE SYSTEM
An optical disk image system offers several advantages in
certain applications over other systems. With an optical image
system, a laser beam is used to store electronic images on a
specially treated metallic disk. Another laser then ``reads''
these bits of stored information and converts them into
electronic impulses that can be interpreted by a computer.
Because lasers are extremely precise, far more data can be stored
on an optical disk than on a floppy disk or on a roll of
microfilm. One 12-inch optical disk, for example, holds 2.4
gigabytes (2.4 million bytes) of information.
An optical disk image system also offers instant recovery of
all images on file and reduced storage space. And, it provides
greater document security than microfilm because no film is sent
to the lab for processing.
BENEFITS
According to the Technical Services Bureau Commander, ``The
optical system's on-line retrieval capability has transformed the
Records Unit into an efficient operation that truly serves the
public.'' Today, all the information that insurance companies
need to start processing a claim can be taken over the phone.
When the original claim information arrives, it is scanned onto
the optical disk. The image of the report can then be called up
and printed in seconds.
By using one or more of the 11 possible program descriptors,
such as the driver's name and license number, the passenger's
name, the time and location of the accident or the officer's
badge number, any report or series of reports can be located and
displayed in seconds. Each descriptor can also be modified to
fit a particular application. For example, a range search
function allows the operator to search reports on all accidents
occurring within a specified range of dates, times, locations or
other parameters.
These broad search capabilities have made it possible for
one person to accomplish, in a matter of minutes, retrievals that
previously took three people hours to perform. The multiple
search descriptors have also given the Records Unit greater
flexibility and have made it easier to accommodate extraordinary
cases, such as accidents involving utility poles or those
involving numerous passengers.
In addition, the system has had a phenomenal impact on
productivity. After installing the optical system, the Records
Unit was able to eliminate a backlog of 6,000 reports in
approximately 4 weeks while keeping up with incoming reports and
new requests. This would have been impossible with the old
system. As a result, the number of complaints regarding
turn-around time have decreased to zero.
Integrating the system into the Records Unit's organization
was relatively painless. It did not affect operations in any
way. In fact, most of the police officers in the field were
unaware that a new system was even installed. The system was
effective almost immediately, and training personnel was
accomplished with relative ease.
CONCLUSION
The improvements in the Records Unit have been felt
throughout the police division. According to the Technical
Services Bureau Commander, ``It's made officers in the field
happy because they can come to the Records Unit and pick up a
report immediately instead of having to wait around for an hour
while the clerks try to find it.''
Today, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find anyone
who is not impressed with the way the Records Unit is now serving
the department and the community. Because of this new optical
disk image retrieval system, efficiency now characterizes the
Records Unit.