After firing an officer arrested on drug charges, Des Moines Police Chief Judy Bradshaw unveiled plans for an early warning system designed to foresee potential problems in officers before they escalate, reports the city’s Register. The initiative aims to combine various aspects of police performance onto one platform so officials can more easily determine if peers need help, intervention or discipline.
Bradshaw said the new system will collect data the department already keeps on file about officers, such as traffic accidents, citizen complaints, use of force incidents and sick leave history. But instead of keeping the information in separate places, the new system will combine the information into a single digital location. Supervisors and management will be trained to identify potential problems and to initiate conversations with officers about the issues. Current privacy laws sometimes make it difficult for supervisors to ascertain whether employees are suffering from personal issues.