The City Council had been notified months ago of the situation

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Local
Ex-police lieutenant points out backlog of reports
Chief: Changes being made to quicken process

By David Kassabian (Contact)

Originally published 12:00 a.m., July 13, 2007

Updated 04:16 a.m., July 13, 2007


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A retired 31-year veteran of the Corpus Christi Police Department accused the department of mismanaging thousands of police reports in a letter sent to the City Council.

In the two-page document faxed last week to the council and local media, former police lieutenant David Brink said about 5,000 police reports have not been entered into the department's database, causing a four-month delay in identifying stolen items or crime suspects. That delay allows for criminals to sell stolen property at pawn shops without immediately alerting authorities, he said.

Separately, a lack of staff assigned to the department's property room will cause the department to run out of space for new evidence beginning in 2008, Brink added.

"This is not a new problem in the least," Brink said.

Police Chief Bryan Smith said there is a backlog of police reports and that the number of reports Brink cited is accurate, but that delay has been predicted and planned for while the department trains records section employees for a new management system scheduled to go live on Monday.

The City Council had been notified months ago of the situation and once the new system is up and running, it will allow officers to directly upload reports from their in-cruiser computers, Smith said. Smith said he hopes for 90 percent of all police reports to be filed electronically by Jan. 1.

That streamlined process then will free up some of the 35 civilian employees in central records to work with the three civilian employees currently assigned to the property room, he said.

In the meantime, records section employees who have been training for the new system immediately will be able to address the backlog.

"This is a short-term problem with a long-term solution a week away," Smith said. "All change develops at least some tension or anxiety -- that's not a bad thing sometimes."

Despite a current delay in police reports being formally logged, officers often are able to access a report by computer 24 hours after an incident because reports are digitally scanned, Smith said.

Smith said the current capacity of the property room wasn't immediately available late Thursday, but if it is close to being full, the department will find a long-term solution.

"I'm not going to let short-term concerns dissuade me from affecting permanent changes that need to be made in this department," Smith said.

Contact David Kassabian at 886-3778

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Posted by dangarn on July 13, 2007 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Cheif? Wow, awesome. Do you mean "chief"? That's awesome.

Posted by angie9386 on July 13, 2007 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I before E except AFTER C. Isn't it right? :-P

Posted by fashionista on July 13, 2007 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

wow, the caller times will do an investigation on this letter sent to the city council, but they won't do an investigation on the letter sent to the council on June 9th....pick and choose want you guys want the public to know...

Posted by jmeyer999 on July 13, 2007 at 1:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The City Council "had been" notified months ago.......

Try this:

The City Council "was" notified months ago.......

Where does the Caller Times get these "jernalists"???

Posted by dannoynted1 on July 14, 2007 at 12:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Yeah we are usually the last to know.....now Watt happens when the electriCITY goes out?

A hardcopy of the handwritten police report is best, they can scan it in.

with all the I's dotted and T's crossed.

Posted by jimd on July 14, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This is what's crazy --> "David Brink said about 5,000 police reports have not been entered into the department's database, causing a four-month delay in identifying stolen items or crime suspects. That delay allows for criminals to sell stolen property at pawn shops without immediately alerting authorities, he said."

It's open territory for burglars and general crime....come in boyz, the water's fine. ;-)

Most likely the four month delay was caused by the Chef being preoccupied in the kitchen while preparing/indulging in his favorite fur burger.

Posted by dannoynted1 on July 14, 2007 at 10:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

WOW!

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