Kings County is still trying to get SMART.  After months of delay, law enforcement agencies across the county hope to launch by year's end a $1.6 million computer database program aimed at bringing local cops into the 21st century.

The new records management system, known as SMART (Strategically Managed, Analysis and Research-driven, Technology-based), should lead to better communication between public safety agencies and more officers out on the street.

"Let's say there is a stalking case in Lemoore," Hanford Police Capt. Parker Sever said. "The person comes over to our area and commits a crime. In the past, we may know nothing about the case in Lemoore, so maybe we wouldn't handle the case as correctly as we should. Now, with the SMART system, we can see Lemoore's reports and take more appropriate action as a result."

The program was originally approved by the Kings County Board of Supervisors in late December 2008. Initial projections were that the Corcoran Police Department would go live in March, with other agencies to follow.

"The original launch date was set before any of us knew what all would go into bringing the system online," said Corcoran Police Chief Reuben Shortnacy. "We had some complications that arose and kept pushing the date back."

Problems came up when technicians tried to connect the system with other statewide law enforcement databases, such as the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, the California Department of Justice and the National Crime Information Center.

"The company installing the program really underestimated the complications they would have installing the software," Assistant Sheriff Brian Wheat said. "These things have set us back, but we've almost reached all of our goals."

Data also had to be converted from the old system to the new, a process that proved more taxing than anyone expected.

"It takes a lot of time to go through these smaller issues," Shortnacy said. "We want to get it right the first time and that means wading through lots of minutiae. The more work we do on the front end means the less we'll have to deal with after we go live."

Now, as 2009 winds to a close, only the Hanford Police Department has the system up and running.

Corcoran police officials have tentative plans to launch by the last week of November. Lemoore police wouldn't commit to a firm date, but said they should be up and running by the end of the year. The Sheriff's Office is set to follow in early January.

Despite the setbacks, most law enforcement officials said the new system is a "much needed" change. The previous system was installed in 1991 and used a green-screen, DOS-based text system.

"The transition has been a little more difficult than we had hoped, but we really like the system," Sever said. "It has a lot of functionality that we didn't have with the previous setup."

Through SMART, officers can conduct unique database searches for suspects matching broad criteria.

"I can literally search almost anything in this database that I can possibly think of," Sever said. "If I need to know every suspect nearby with blonde hair and a red Toyota Corolla, I can find that. The capabilities are really incredible."

Officers in the field will be able to file reports on the road that are instantly entered in the law enforcement database, which all public safety agencies will share. This means each agency will be able to access the others' reports, making it easier to track suspects that cross jurisdictional boundaries.

In the future, the system will be able to map routes out to patrol vehicles, much like a GPS, to guide officers to the scene of a crime. Police also plan to use SMART's statistical diagnostic tools to highlight high-crime areas in the county and increase patrols in those areas.

Still, Sever anticipates it will take roughly a year before the bugs are worked out and everything is fully up and running.

"The idea is to keep the officers available as much as possible," Shortnacy said. "This means less time filing papers and processing paperwork, and more time out in the field. This way, we will be a much better service to our community.

"The better it is for our officers and support staff, the better it will be for everybody."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

(Nov. 21, 2009)