Advancing

21st Century Policing: The National City Police Department Report to the
Community

Pillar 3: Technology & Social Media

National City Police Department’s use of technology has improved policing practices, is used to
combat crime, and to build up community trust and legitimacy. The department has created an
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account to keep our community up to date with
interdepartmental events and activities. The department has incorporated Body-Worn
Cameras, unmanned aerial devices, robots and PDA’s as technological tools for officers. We use
technology to map crime statistics to identify problems and create solutions to address those
problems. The department is aiming to go completely paperless when it comes to documenting,
processing and storage of reports.

Examples of technology and social media:
PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT
National City Police Department is one
of the few departments who assign
every officer a Personal Digital Assistant
(PDA). PDAs are mobile data devices in
the form of a personal cell phone which
are used for a variety of reasons. A PDA
can more accurately document
police/citizen contacts in short digitally
written Field Interview (FI) Reports.
PDAs also grants officers access to
several countywide database systems
which can expeditiously help identify
and locate suspects during an active investigation. PDAs
are also used as cameras, audio recorders and video
recorders. Digital evidence can be directly uploaded to a
cloud-based application to streamline photographs and
video to our Investigations Unit or District Attorney’s Office
for any follow up investigation or evidence review.
FACIAL RECOGNITION, LICENSE PLATE READERS AND
LOJACK EQUIPPED VEHICLES
PDA’s are equipped with a Tactical Identification System
software. Many criminals will attempt to hide their true
identity to avoid discovery from law enforcement, often
times using the identity of another person. Through this
Advancing 21st Century Policing: The National City Police Department Report to the
Community

software, officers can take a new or existing photograph of a suspect to positively identify
them. This only works for suspects who have been previously incarcerated within San Diego
County. Several of the department’s vehicles are equipped with license plate readers (LPRs) and
LoJack. License plate readers are
automated computer-controlled
camera systems which are affixed to
squad cars. LoJack is a stolen vehicle
recovery system which enables
some vehicles to be tracked and
recovered by police. LPRs and
LoJack are most commonly used to
locate and recover stolen vehicles or
stolen license plates. They can also
assist with identify and locating a
suspect’s vehicle.
THE DEPARTMENT USE OF
DRONES
The National City Police
Department formed an
Unmanned Arial System
(Drone) Committee. Drones
are being used for the search
and rescue of missing
persons, search and
apprehension of fleeing
fugitives, riot control, air
support during high risk
contacts, and fires. The department is working with other larger departments who are utilizing
the drones on a full-time basis in hopes to develop our own full-time drone deployment
program.
NET RMS AND INTEGRATED SCAN SYSTEM.
NetRMS is a report writing system which has made our reports and documentation virtually
paperless. The department utilizes scanners which upload supplemental documents to make
for easier storage and transfer. Digital files and folders are created within NetRMS with each
report, which lifts time constraints and manpower within the department, making it much more
organized and accessible.

Advancing 21st Century Policing: The National City Police Department Report to the
Community


EVIDENCE.COM
The department utilizes Axon Evidence. Evidence.com is a cloud-based data system which
stores, streamlines and shares digital evidence. It makes it easier for the department to collect,
manage and transfer digital evidence such as photographs, images and videos during the course
of an investigation. All Body Worn Camera
footage is also uploaded and stored to this
system.
DEPARTMENT WEBSITE
The Department website has been currently
updated to become more user friendly and
beneficial to the community. The department
website provides quick links to crime prevention
tips, community events, press releases and the
department’s twitter account for current updates.

SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING

The National City Police Department
has created an Instagram, Twitter
and Facebook account to keep the
community informed on police-
related events in addition to
enhancing the image of our
department. The application will
also be used to announce public
safety issues, community events,
along with keeping our community
informed on important issues.
Advancing 21st Century Policing: The National City Police Department Report to the
Community

MAPPI
GN
DASHB
OARD
Mappin
g
Dashbo
ard is a
great
technol
ogical
tool
because it allows us to visually see where crime is happening throughout the city. Through this
program, we can identify problem areas, called “hotspots.” We can then use that information
to have police officers patrol those problem areas more or to even find solutions to some of
those problems.
For instance, if we are curious about where traffic collisions have been occurring throughout
our city in the last few months. In our Mapping Dashboard program, we can build a search
query that will allow us to search for traffic collisions, in National City, during a specific time
frame. Then we could physically go to that intersection to figure out why so many accidents are
occurring at that location.