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eFORCE® Customer Survey - April 2012

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:45:00 GMT

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:57:00 GMT

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is a state public school located in the national historic city of St. Augustine, Florida, which is available at no cost to parents and students. We serve eligible students from across the state that are deaf/hard of hearing, or blind/visually impaired. Our school maintains full accreditation, and we provide pre-kindergarten through 12th grade children with various opportunities for independence, growth and learning. Our law enforcement officers have the ability to learn and use sign language skills.

The Florida School for the Deaf & the Blind Campus Police Department operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week providing services on campus directly to the school community, which includes but is not limited to law enforcement, security, investigative, access control, communications, emergency management, fingerprinting, evidence/property management, records management, School Resource Officer, crime prevention, parking/traffic enforcement, video camera surveillance and public relations.

The Department employs a total of 18 employees; 10 sworn law enforcement officers (including the Police Chief) and 8 non-sworn support staff. The campus community we serve is approximately 600 students and 600 staff situated on 70 acres.

Jerry Chandlee has been serving as our Police Chief since March 2005. Under his leadership we have received national recognition and were presented the “2010 Individual School Safety Award” by the School Safety Advocacy Council at the 2010 National School Safety Conference in Orlando, Florida. Chief Chandlee was also instrumental in assisting the Florida School for the Deaf & the Blind in receiving national recognition and was recently presented the “2012 National Exemplary Bullying Prevention Program Award” by the School Safety Advocacy Council at the 2012 National Conference on Bullying in Orlando, Florida.

In the spring of 2010 the police department began looking for software to fit their needs; “We decided we wanted to upgrade to browser-based Records Management and CAD Systems. We needed systems with more features and flexibility. We are confident we found those systems with the eFORCE® RMS and eFORCE® CAD. We enjoy using eFORCE® because it is simple to use, we can log on to it from any computer location with internet access and it produces valuable analysis reports. ”

Please Give Us Your Opinion!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:25:00 GMT

We appreciate you as a customer and value your opinion. Please help us better serve you by taking a few moments to complete this survey and give us input.

Click HERE to take the Survey!

Thank You!

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Rice University Police Department

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:26:00 GMT

Rice University Police Department is located in Houston Texas. Some points of interest around Rice University are the Texas Medical Center and the Houston Zoo, among other destinations found in Houston Texas.

The police department focuses on keeping Rice University a safe place to work, study and perform research. This year Rice University is celebrating their 100th year anniversary. “For the present, it is proposed to assign no upper limit to our educational endeavor.” Edgar Odell Lovett. “At Rice University, these powerful words have fueled a commitment to excellence, and uncommon drive toward innovation and almost 100 years of unparalleled achievement.” The Police Department is exemplifying this commitment to excellence. They pride themselves in their ability to work with and build a community relationship with the students at the university. The safety of the individuals working or studying at Rice University is their top priority.

The police department recently welcomed a new police chief, Johnny Whitehead, March 1, 2012. Currently 60 individuals, 30 of which are police officers, are employed at the police department.

In October of 2011 Rice University began using eFORCE® Software. They were looking for software that provided better report writing capabilities. Another thing that led them to choose eFORCE® was the great searching abilities found in eFORCE® software.

Rice University is currently using eFORCE® RMS and eFORCE® CAD. Officers at Rice University have enjoyed the report validating tools found in the eFORCE® RMS report writing section. The reports practically write themselves, which provides less time in the office and more time out maintaining the safety of the employees and students at Rice University

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Laguna Vista Police Department, TX

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:07:00 GMT

Laguna Vista is located about five miles from Port Isabel and near South Padre Island in Southern Texas. Vacation homes dot the town of Laguna Vista, and many vacationers visit the area to enjoy the coast. The Laguna Vista Police Department employs seven officers, headed by Chief Robert McGinnis.

After looking into many software solutions, LVPD elected to use eFORCE® for their software needs as one of several agencies apart of the Texas DPS RRMS Project.

On September 1, 2011 the department went live, utilizing eFORCE® RMS. The quick resolve, by eFORCE® support, of any questions or concerns has been a great asset to the department. “eFORCE® is really easy to use and the technical support is great” said Sergeant Olguin. Laguna Vista is “extremely happy” with the quality software offered at eFORCE®. There is an “ease about using the software” that their agency enjoys.

eFORCE Customer Spotlights: Oldham County Sheriff's Office, TX

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:06:00 GMT

In the Town of Oldham Six Deputies and 5 Dispatchers and
Jailers, led by Sheriff David Medlin, work tirelessly to serve
their community. They serve the Adrean, Vega, and Wildorado communities of Oldham, as well as the Cal Farley Boys Ranch. Their jurisdiction covers 1,500 Sq. miles, with a population of 2,300. Dispatched from their department are: 3 ambulance services and 4 fire services.

On October 1, 2011 the transition to eFORCE® was made. After going to a demo for the Texas DPS RRMS Project, Oldham was impressed with the eFORCE® solution. It was because of this they decided to choose eFORCE® as a vendor. They currently use the RMS, CAD, and JAIL products. “We have enjoyed eFORCE® because, “it is easy to use”. We recently started using the UCR and it is a wonderful tool. We continue to be impressed with the support at eFORCE®, they are always prompt, and even know my voice when I call.”

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Spur Police Department, TX

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:02:00 GMT

The Best of both worlds can be found in Spur, Texas. Located 60 miles from Lovelock one can enjoy the small quiet community of Spur or travel in to Lovelock for the busyness of the city. Two noble men protect the town of spur, Chief Toby Brazee and Sgt Jerry Redding. We “try to do the best we can for our people. And in law enforcement one must always remember that honesty and integrity are key”.

Spur was in dire need of an RMS program, so they began their search. They wanted a Records Management System that had all the information needed in one place that was easy and accessible to use, which made using the hosted solution eFORCE® provided through the Texas DPS RRMS Project. In August of 2011, they implemented and went “Live” with the eFORCE® RMS product. The department has enjoyed having software that populates all the information in one place. It has made their records management process easier and more efficient.

Spur Police Department was one of the 30+ agencies who elected to eFORCE® Software out of 3 vendors as part of the Texas DPS RRMS Grant and Project in the fall of 2011.

President's Day Hours

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:33:00 GMT

eFORCE® Presidents Day Hours

In observance of the Presidents Day Holiday, eFORCE® will be closed

Monday, February 20^th, 2011. After hours support will still be available.

We will be back in the office Tuesday, February 21st.

Have a wonderful Holiday weekend!

Florida Chiefs Show

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:31:00 GMT

The Florida Police Chiefs Association 2012 Mid-Winter Conference was a great success for IntelliChoice and eFORCE®Software. We thank you for your attendance and support as we were able to meet and talk with many of you throughout the show.

We would like to congratulate our iPad winner, Officer Kelly Thomas from Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. Enjoy the iPad!

Thanks again to everyone who made this another successful trade show for us!

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Denver RTD

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:46:00 GMT

The Regional Transportation District in Denver (RTD), Colorado's bus and light rail transportation system serves 40 municipalities in six counties plus two city/county jurisdictions with an average weekday boarding of 322,121and an annual boarding of 97,180,210. RTD’s fare inspectors check over 1 million patrons a year for proper fares.

In May of 2011, RTD began using eFORCE® RMS and eFORCE® Handheld Systems that replaced the manual citation program. This involved training a force of 330 plus to include rail fare inspectors, contracted security officers, local contracted police officers, contracted street supervisors, RTD street supervisors, RTD Security Staff, and other RTD administrative staff.

The learning curve was relatively easier and faster than anticipated. The real challenge for eFORCE® was to customize the software for RTD’s specific needs such as integrating the Motorola MC 75 handheld units that RTD purchased. The Motorola handhelds are used by fare inspectors to issue written warnings, citations, and written suspensions.

eFORCE® has been on target addressing any concerns that have come up as a result of RTD’s unique requirements. Comments from the fare inspectors, RTD’s primary users, have been positive. They like the capability of scanning IDs instead of entering a violator’s information manually, because it saves time and ensures accuracy of violator information. The ability to retrieve statistical data by grids and sub-grids that correspond to specific bus and rail locations allow for more accurate reporting.

The Security Command Center personnel spend less time communicating by radio with inspectors in the field to verify prior violations because the fare inspectors can obtain that information themselves from the eFORCE® Handheld System and handheld devices. This allows Security Command Center officers to spend more time monitoring security cameras and performing other security-related activities.

eFORCE® representatives have been available to discuss any changes or modifications to our records management system as RTD continues to grow as a transportation system, and RTD looks forward to a continued partnership with eFORCE®.

eFORCE® 2011 Customer Awards

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:02:00 GMT

We want to congratulate the Payette County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho for being the 2011 eFORCE® Customer of the Year!

Payette County Sheriff’s Office is located in a rural community with dedicated men and women in law enforcement ready to protect and serve approximately 23,000 residents. Payette County Sheriff’s Office employs 17 certified officers, 8 dispatchers, 12 detention officers, and 6 civilian employees.

Payette County Sheriff’s Office works closely with the Payette Police Department and they value the benefits of working together to achieve common goals. Joint efforts to enforce the law, respond to emergencies, provide public assistance, and minimize operational costs are evident in Payette County. This is demonstrated by a dispatch center servicing multiple law enforcement jurisdictions and other first responders, a detention facility, and a drug task force team represented by three counties and their incorporated cities.

We also want to congratulate the eFORCE® NEW Customer of the Year, Regional Transit District (RTD) of Denver.

In May of 2011, RTD began using eFORCE® RMS and eFORCE® Handheld Systems that replaced the manual citation program. This involved training a force of 330 plus to include rail fare inspectors, contracted security officers, local contracted police officers, contracted street supervisors, RTD street supervisors, RTD Security Staff, and other RTD administrative staff.

Other notable awards were given to the following agencies:

Bountiful Police Department, UT – CAD Customer of the Year
Price Communications Center, UT – CAD Customer of the Year
Lone Tree Police Department, CO – RMS Customer of the Year
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, WY – JAIL Customer of the Year
Blackhawk Police Department, CO – COURT Customer of the Year

These and other customer awards were given out at the Annual 2011 eFORCE® Users Conference, click HERE to view the recipients’ of the awards as well as more pictures from our 2011 Conference.

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Edgewood Police Dept, FL

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:28:00 GMT

The Edgewood Police Department provides community oriented based policing to approximately2,500 residents with a total land area of approximately 2 square miles. The agency has 12 full-time officers and provides 24/7 full law enforcement services to their citizens. The City of Edgewood is located approximately 2 miles south of downtown Orlando and is bordered by the City of Orlando to the north, City of Belle Isle to the south, and unincorporated Orange County to the west and east, coincidentally the area in unincorporated Orange County is one of the highest calls for service areas in their jurisdiction. State Route 527 (Orange Avenue) passes directly through the City bringing with it an average of more than 43,000 vehicles per day. The City contracts with the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office for dispatching services.

Sergeant Jackson and Scott realized that finding the right RMS for their agency was the key to their future success. They approached the project of finding a new RMS, realizing that whatever motion they put in place and started with would most likely continue well beyond their years with the agency. Several requirements were put into place by both Sergeant Jackson and Scott. Sergeant Jackson has served the Edgewood Police Department for 23 years, during that time he has become responsible for UCR reporting and all aspects of data and report generation for the EPD and City reporting needs. The old RMS system had limitations, but thanks to its open architecture, Sergeant Jackson was able to utilize Microsoft Excel to harvest the needed data and generate reports even though it was time-consuming.

By virtue of the past, their vision for the future required a robust reporting package as the top requirement. Beyond that, easy of data entry, report generation, and training were many items on Sergeant Jackson’s laundry list. As IT Manager, Scott had several other requirements. Having spent many years in the hospitality industry and software industry, he realized that “software as a service” was the trend of the future. The City was not interested in hosting yet another server and managing the configuration issues and constant maintenance headache coupled with security issues.

As Sergeant Jackson and Scott proceeded through the maze and minefield of the RMS selection process they began to compile their list of qualified candidates. eFORCE® made it to the short list. As the selection process continued, the detailed list of wants and needs continued to evolve. “We were very impressed with the eFORCE® team, there didn’t seem to be topics they shied away from. They were able to manage all of our requests and find a proper solution to keep their RMS product at the top of our short list.” said Sgt. Jackson.

“Picking eFORCE® as our final choice was easy” said Scott. “The team at eFORCE® worked very hard to earn our business and draft a proper plan of attack for implementing our requests and managing our expectations.” One of the key factors in selecting eFORCE® as the final choice was that eFORCE® committed to developing an integration to Orange County (Florida) Corrections ICJIS system which houses all the arrest/charging affidavit information that the officers use when making an arrest.

In July 2010, the Edgewood Police Department went live with eFORCE® in a hosted solution. Training took place at their office and it was immediately pressed into use. Officers and administrative staff had very positive feedback and very few problems getting adjusted to the system. In October 2010, the eFORCE® staff turned on the interface to the Orange County (Florida) ICJIS system and it was successful. In January 2011, the Edgewood Police Department went live with Florida TraCS for crash reporting. The team at eFORCE® created an interface for TraCS to upload crash data into eForce eliminating the need for re-entry by support staff.

“To date eFORCE® has been a pleasure to work with. Their can-do attitude is a very welcome addition and the efficiencies gained by elimination of re-keying data is paramount” says, Scott. But don’t think they are done yet, Sergeant. Jackson and Scott continue to look towards the future and envision how best to leverage their software to maximize their return and the team at eFORCE® will be ready to respond.

If you’d like to contact Sergeant Jackson or Scott they can be reached via email at vjackson@edgewood-fl.gov or szane@edgewood-fl.gov.

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Payette County SO & Payette PD

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:59:00 GMT

Fresh air, wide open spaces, grazing livestock, and friendly people reside in Payette County. A place you can enjoy hunting and fishing along the river. Travel on Highway 95 to Payette City, which is the gateway to Hells Canyon recreation area, to participate in local events i.e. Cruz Night and the Apple Blossom. Payette City is located at the confluence of the Payette and Snake River in Idaho near the Oregon border.

A rural community with dedicated men and women in law enforcement ready to protect and serve approximately 23,000 residents. Payette City employs 12 certified officers and 2 civilian employees. Payette County Sheriff’s Office employs 17 certified officers, 8 dispatchers, 12 detention officers, and 6 civilian employees.

Payette County Sheriff’s Office and Payette Police Department value the benefits of working together to achieve common goals. Joint efforts to enforce the law, respond to emergencies, provide public assistance, and minimize operational costs are evident in Payette County. This is demonstrated by a dispatch center servicing multiple law enforcement jurisdictions and other first responders, a detention facility, and a drug task force team represented by three counties and their incorporated cities.

A critical member of our team is eFORCE®. Payette County utilizes all the eFORCE® system-wide management tools: CAD, RMS, Jail, Civil, and Mug Shots. Success is easily measured by the unique technology to share multi-agency information with a simple “touch of a button” and flexibility to access the system remotely. eFORCE® has provided our departments with excellent customer service. They are timely in assisting with any technical problems and welcomes requests for agency customization. Although change is difficult, upgrading to eFORCE® was relatively smooth. The continuous dedication for system reliability, user-friendly platform, and keeping costs down to a minimum is greatly appreciated. We value the eFORCE® support team, which cannot be measured by any other.

eFORCE Customer Spotlight: Lincoln County Sheriff's Office

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:06:00 GMT

Lincoln County is a rural county located on the western border of Wyoming. There are approximately 17,000 residents that spread over 4,180 square miles. There are two population centers located 100 miles apart, the Star Valley area and the Kemmerer area, with the jail and main Sheriff’s Office is located on the county seat of Kemmerer. Both Kemmerer and Star Valley have dispatch centers that operate 24/7.

Lincoln County provides dispatch services for all police departments, fire departments, EMS services and all other first responders in the county. Lincoln County is a main thoroughfare to Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Lincoln County currently uses eFORCE® CAD, RMS, Jail and Civil products. The ease of use and customer service are excellent. The time spent training new employees on our software has been cut drastically. The ability to handle most administrative functions internally have also been beneficial. eFORCE® is always looking to improve on what they already have as well as bring new products that help in our everyday operations.

Aggie athletes get holiday spirit as kids ‘Shop with a Jock’

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:01:00 GMT

By Ty Rogers, an Aggie football player who graduates this month and participated in the Shop with a Jock event.

LOGAN—It’s not every year that I can feel like I lived up to the “Christmas spirit” associated with the holidays. Each year it gets harder to do something good for somebody else, but what would Christmas be if everybody just sat around and waited to receive?

This year is different because the Christmas spirit is high in Logan, especially last week when local kids got a chance to Shop with a Jock.

Twenty-five USU student-athletes, along with Big Blue, took part in a community outreach project sponsored by eFORCE, a local law enforcement software company on USU’s Innovation Campus.

On Thursday, eFORCE provided 10 local children, ages 6 to 12, the chance to do some Christmas shopping with USU athletes. Each kid got a $150 gift card at ShopKo, and had one hour to spend their money.

“We got the names of the kids from a local elementary school that was aware of the needs some of their kids have during the holiday season,” said eFORCE CEO Corey Bowers.

The evening began at the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum, where the Aggie athletes took turns signing the kids’ posters and t-shirts. Some of the kids had no problem interacting, although some had trouble warming up to a room full of strangers.

Football player Devin Johnson was among the athletes who helped chaperone the kids. “We made up a handshake just to make them a little more comfortable,” he said.

After the kids got all the autographs they could fit on their posters and shirts, the Aggie athletes were introduced to the kids they would be shopping with. After some photos, everyone boarded a bus to spend an hour shopping at ShopKo.

I was one of the athletes who helped push a 7-year-old boy around in a shopping cart. After acquiring everything on his “Need” list, we dove into his “Want” list.

I’ve never seen a kid his age who knew exactly what he wanted like he did. He never complained, pouted or even stopped smiling. I doubt I gave him as much joy as he gave me.

Sometimes it is easy for student-athletes to gorget that we have responsibilities outside classrooms and practice fields.

“I think we are role models in the kids’ lives in all aspects,” said Johnson. “They learn a lot from us and sometimes we don’t even know it.”

Amber Rae Childers, the Academic/Life Skills Coordinator in Student-Athlete Services at USU, helped eFORCE make the event happen. She says the student-athletes provided the kids with a great experience, while gaining something important themselves.

“Participating in community outreach is one element of a student-athletes’ holistic experience while at Utah State,” Childers said.

Bowers agrees. He thinks the guidance that student-athletes provide is a huge part of what the event is about. “We want them (kids) to have a positive experience with these role models so that they will have that desire to get a degree,” Bowers said.

Bowers said his company has a lot of respect for the university because many of their employees are USU graduates. With events like this, Bowers hopes to spread the word and get more companies on board to help more kids each year.

“Our customer base is not necessarily a local one, but we feel this even brings our company together and gives us the opportunity to give back,” he said.

For me and the other Aggie “jocks” who participated, the event wasn’t just about shopping, but about the kids’ overall holiday experience.