Springfield, Missouri Pioneers Use of Niche RMS in USA

SPRINGFIELD, MO, May 6 /PRNewswire/ - Springfield, Missouri Police Department (SPD) is the first US municipal force to implement the leading police records management system, Niche RMS, currently used by more than 75,000 officers in Canada, the UK and Australia.

The third largest city in the State of Missouri, Springfield has a population of 156,206 with a total of 426,144 in the surrounding region, which covers 74 square miles.

Established in 1829, SPD has 326 sworn officers and 81 civilian members, and is a full service agency providing response to citizen calls, case investigations and support management. SPD's high professional standards make it one of the most outstanding in the state. Niche RMS replaces five core SPD legacy information systems, including its Tiburon RMS. SPD also sees Niche RMS replacing a variety of reports, databases and spreadsheets, to a total of over 100. The new system also provides a range of new capabilities to the department as well as the potential to drive out operational efficiencies and share information between other RMS users.

"Niche has a number of amazing features. Perhaps one of its most recognized is flexibility and ease of use," says Sherry Royal, SPD Police Services Administrator for Property/Evidence and Records, and Niche Project Manager. "The Windows orientation quickly enhances locating information, and the searching capabilities are impressive, alleviating the extensive report generation necessary in so many records systems."

"We are very pleased to have been selected by Springfield to provide them with a new operational policing system," says Niche's Director of Operations, John James. "They are our first municipal police department customer in the US and their vision for improving policing using Niche RMS will, we believe, provide a benchmark for other US police agencies."

SPD will use Niche RMS to help eliminate duplicate entry of information, streamline report entry by officers in the cars, and make much more information available to everyone both in police stations and in the field. In preparation for the implementation SPD has appointed a project team, led by Sherry, incorporating members from across the department with an emphasis on diversity. The team is made up of 21 members including officers, engineers, technicians, data administrators, investigators and analysts. The go-live date for the new system is January 2011.

SPD selected Niche after learning about Ontario (Canada)'s 43-agency OPTIC data-sharing cooperative, the rich functionality to support operational policing, and its proven implementation model.

According to Royal, "The overall Niche professional business standards make them unique when considering the huge investment these systems require and the long-term commitment."

ABOUT NICHE TECHNOLOGY AND NICHE RMS

Niche Technology is a privately owned company incorporated in Canada and the UK, specializing in law enforcement software. Niche Records Management System (Niche RMS) is used by more than 75,000 sworn officers worldwide, and current implementation projects will see that number rise to nearly 100,000. The system is being used to drive out efficiencies and improve performance across a range of operational policing functions. Niche RMS is currently used by over 50% of Canadian police officers including Canada's federal police agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; 25% of UK police officers, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and 20% of Australia's police officers. Seven of the 25 largest police forces in the English-speaking world use Niche RMS. For more information, go to www.nicherms.com/.

SOURCE Niche Technology