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Vancouver police to use new database

City agency to access Portland regional law enforcement info

By Amy Fischer, Columbian City Government Reporter
Published: March 24, 2015, 12:00am

Next month, Vancouver police will begin using the city of Portland’s new regional law enforcement database, gaining access to millions of crime records across 40 agencies in Oregon and Washington.

“Our criminals do not respect jurisdictional boundaries,” Vancouver police Assistant Chief Chris Sutter said Monday. “Having that ability to interface and share real-time reporting data between the agencies really is going to help our efforts to solve crimes and keep the community safer.”

The city of Portland is paying for the development of the new system, which goes live April 14. Under an agreement the Vancouver City Council on Monday authorized the city manager to sign, Vancouver will pay $139,080 a year toward ongoing maintenance and operations for Portland’s database. That breaks down to $61 a month for each of the Vancouver Police Department’s 190 sworn officers.

The new software, called the Regional Justice Information System, stores crime data and criminal case files and can interface with property and evidence departments. Police expect the system will provide better data for crime analysis and case management, Sutter said.

Since 2008, Clark County and four Oregon counties — Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Columbia — have worked to develop the regional system. Each of the participating law enforcement agencies will contribute a monthly fee of $45 to $75 per sworn officer.

Switching to a new database not only makes financial sense, but it also was done out of necessity. Developed in 1998, the electronic report-writing system now shared by Clark County’s law enforcement agencies isn’t supported by the vendor any longer, making it unreliable, Sutter said. Replacing it would cost Vancouver and Clark County more than $6 million.

“We see this as a very good value,” Sutter said. “We’re one crash away from the (current) system failing.”

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Columbian City Government Reporter