Computer Aided Dispatch Software Approved for the Sheriff's Office

Apr 15, 2016 at 10:25 am by bryan


Emergency response through Rutherford County will be improved after the County Commission voted 19-1 Thursday to implement a Computer Aided Dispatch software at the Sheriff's Office, said Sheriff Robert Arnold.

Sheriff Arnold asked the 9-1-1 Emergency Communications District for a grant to fund the CAD software. The 9-1-1 board agreed to fund $230,670 or about one-half of the total project. Rutherford County will pay the remaining half.

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"This is monumental," Sheriff Arnold said. "CAD opens up the lines of communications by sharing information immediately with Murfreesboro Police, Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue, the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Management Agency and Rutherford County Fire and Rescue."

Murfreesboro Police and Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue already use the CAD software from vendor Tri-Tech. Other law enforcement agencies may link onto the system later.

Sheriff's Information Systems Capt. John Frost said Rutherford County has needed to share critical data between surrounding public safety entities for a long time. CAD software will be the first step in achieving this data sharing process between Murfreesboro and Rutherford County agencies.

"In today's rapidly evolving technology and Rutherford County's population increase, it is paramount for public safety entities to share data between each other quickly and efficiently," Capt. Frost said. "The goals for the implementation of this software are to reduce response time of critical emergency calls, to eliminate redundant entries of time sensitive records, to reduce human error for better statistical data for the public and surrounding government agencies and to provide more efficient software for 911 telecommunications dispatchers to ease the stress from their stressful jobs."

Sheriff Arnold said the Sheriff's Office will seek funding next fiscal year for the Records Management System software and later the Jail Management System software to replace the system operating for 17 years that is "plagued with problems."

These upgrades will allow the Sheriff's Office to share inmate and records data between the judicial systems within the county.

Sheriff Arnold thanked Mayor Ernest Burgess, the county commissioners, the Deputy to the Mayor Jeff Davidson, the 9-11 Board, Brian Robertson and the county OIT department, Bill Terry and the city of Murfreesboro, Emergency Medical Services and the Sheriff's Information Systems.

Upgrading the software system has been my dream since taking office six years ago," Sheriff Arnold said. "This was a collaborative effort."

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