The Colusa County Board of Supervisors last week approved a request from the Sheriff’s Office for a new record management system that will bring the department into the 21st Century.
The board awarded a sole source no-bid contract in the amount of about $378,000 with Sun Ridge Systems to provide software to the agency that will allow the Sheriff’s Office to share the same record management platform as the Colusa and Williams police departments.
Agencies in surrounding jurisdictions also share the same platform, which allows them to share data – an important component in crime prevention and solving crime, said Assistant Sheriff Michael Bradwell. The system will also allow the three local agencies to be linked together for the purpose of sharing reports.
Bradwell said unlike most law enforcement agencies, the Colusa Sheriff’s Office personnel still handwrites (prints) most of their reports, instead of relying on modern software.
“The Sheriff’s Office system of records management is failing,” Bradwell said. “We have to update it.”
Brandwell said the Colusa Police Department has used the RIMS system since 2002; Williams since 2009.
The new software will also allow the Sheriff’s Office to manage resources from their agency and other agencies during crisis events, and will save the agency time, money, and manpower by bringing the office into the “digital era.”
“This brings us up to speed with what other agencies are doing,” Bradwell said.
Sun Ridge has been in business for about 40 years and will provide training on the system, which barcodes evidence and auto fills information at the touch of a button.
The software, which is used by about 190 law enforcement agencies, is also updated annually at no additional cost.
“It’s the best system out there that I know of,” Bradwell said.
Sheriff Joe Garofalo budgeted $400,000 this year for record management upgrades and had asked specifically for the county to waive competitive bidding on the appropriate finding that it would not be in the best interest of the county to seek another software program not linkable with the two local law enforcement agencies, officials said.
The board approved the contract 5-0. ■