The city of Akron is replacing its paper-based personnel files with a software package to monitor the behavior of its safety forces. City council this week approved spending $43,000 for the program to track the use of force, tardiness, public complaints and other matters.
Akron officials say the new software package will make it easier and more efficient to spot public safety trends and improve police, fire and EMS service. City spokeswoman Ellen Lander-Nischt says it will also help employees with job performance as well as with difficulties they may be having in their lives.
“So what we’re trying to do is, try to identify those warning signs early on. Not just issues of job performance, but also possibly personal issues so that we can get people the interventions that they need to make sure that they’re really living up to the standards of the police department, but also that they’re cared for.”
Lander-Nischt says the tracking program should be in place in a few months. The city of Cleveland has been using the system since 2015, and it’s in use in more than 600 other departments in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
