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The Solution:
Linear provides solutions for complex chain of custody, digital evidence management and evidence management requirements in a 24/7/365 environment. Any loss of digital evidence would be catastrophic to an agency’s reputation. Everything that the DIMS solution provides is absolutely “Mission Critical” to the everyday operations of a Police or Sheriff’s Department and successful investigation, capture, and prosecution of criminals is directly dependent on the systems that we provide. Every component in this solution must be the highest quality with absolutely no room for “second best” and this especially includes the level of support that is required and expected by Linear Technical and Programming Staff for an agency. Any level of failure absolutely is unacceptable. Linear Systems always provides an unmatched level of support so we can always exceed our client’s expectations.
Customization of the system/solution:
Every DIMS installation is fully customized to the specific needs of the Department since Policies and Procedures, SOPs, and workflow are unique to each agency. In addition, multiple acquire stations that are deployed to specialized units in various locations must be customized to the specific environment and user group. Every classification and search criterion included in the database needs to be customized to accommodate operational and procedural issues and to control access rights and retention schedules. Integration with existing databases, (records management systems) and legacy equipment requires custom configuration. Additionally, each agency will find something necessary to their existing operation that dictates that Linear needs to provide custom software development for that feature or function, which is provided at no additional cost.
Challenges to implementation:
Most of the challenges posed by this type of system solution and installation will not be technical, but administrative. This is typical when providing large scale solutions to government entities. Contractual negotiations and scheduling logistics consume more time than configuration, integration, installation, and training for the solution. Also, with a comprehensive solution to such a complicated task of processing evidence, that must be compliant with laws and regulations, many challenges arise from “the devil is in the details” and extensive documentation and planning must be coordinated between multiple parties in the City, such as City Attorney, Prosecutors, Command Staff, IT, Patrol, Detective Bureau, Professional Standards, and ultimately end up at Procurement. The definitive goal is to quickly and fully execute the project and provide a solution with a very short return on investment, aiming toward a long term relationship with a Law Enforcement Agency.
The industry’s easiest workflow:
Over the past decade, DIMS has evolved from handling the workflow for acquisition of digital images in a policies-compliant manner, to a system that can handle images, audio, and video from a plethora of sources and then provide secure controlled access to those assets throughout a department. One thing, however, hasn’t changed: DIMS is still the easiest solution out there for end-users to acquire their digital information and evidence. Everything is accessible through clearly labeled buttons and pop-up dialogs. There are no pull-down menus to hunt through, or icons to decipher. It’s fast and easy to use. DIMS virtually eliminates all end-user training requirements for utilizing the software.